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Title:
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Philologie vs. Sprachwissenschaft
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Author:
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Hiroyuki Eto
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Email:
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click here to access email
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Degree Awarded:
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Georgetown University
, Department of German
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Degree Date:
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1999
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Linguistic Subfield(s):
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History of Linguistics
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Director(s):
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Kurt Jankowsky
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Abstract:
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The present study examines the concept of Philology focusing on its relationship to Sprachwissenschaft within the framework of the history of sciences in 19th-century Germany.
Philology as an intellectual activity originates in Ptolemaic Alexandria from a special desire to read and understand the works of Homer and, consequently, to experience their world. Until the middle of the 19th century this trend had remained largely unchanged. In such an academic pursuit, various neighboring disciplines, especia lly the study of language and of literature, have been interwoven to understand classical works more precisely. Philologie is thus closely connected with 'something linguistic.'
In the 19th century a new era of language studies begins with the birth of c omparative-historical linguistics. This discipline is connected partly with philological activity in that it examines old documents. But it also created a new direction from Philology in that it viewed language in itself, regardless of extra-linguistic co mponents. This emergence of a novel approach was bound to trigger terminological differences in the interpretation of Philology and Sprachwissenschaft.
Scrutinizing this 'definitional' discrepancy, we recognize the significant fact that 19th-century Germ any Philology as well as comparative-historical linguistics deal with a particular nation or a group of nations as the largest unit in relation to their natural language. Philologie in a traditional sense is, as Friedrich August Wolf defines it, 'ein Inbe griff (epitome)' of classical studies. In 19th-century Germany the scope of Boeckh's general notion of Philology as 'recognition of what is recognized' has spread from the Greeks and the Romans to every nation. In this sense Philology and comparative-hist orical Sprachwissenschaft are cooperatively connected in their objective as well as in their methodology.
Philologie has often been interpreted as classical scholarship, linguistics, historical studies, literary studies, etc. This polysemy creates the impression of vagueness of the word. But, as a result of the present study, we are convinced that Philologie serves as a national, regional and cultural study based on linguistic, literary and historical survey.
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