HUMBOLDT'S LINGUISTIC DOCTRINES AMSTERDAM STUDIES IN THE THEORY AND HISTORY OF LINGUISTIC SCIENCE General Editor E. F. KONRAD KOERNER (University of Ottawa) Series III - STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE SCIENCES Advisory Editorial Board Ranko Bugarski (Belgrade); Jean-Claude Chevalier (Paris) H.H. Christmann (Tübingen); Boyd H. Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) Rudolf Engler (Bern); Hans-Josef Niederehe (Trier) R.H. Robins (London); Rosane Rocher (Philadelphia) Aldo Scaglione (Chapel Hill) Volume 32 Martin L. Manchester The Philosophical Foundations of Humboldt's Linguistic Doctrines THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF HUMBOLDT'S LINGUISTIC DOCTRINES MARTIN L. MANCHESTER JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA 1985 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Manchester, Martin L. The philosophical foundations of Humboldt's linguistic doctrines. (Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science. Series III, Studies in the history of the language sciences, ISSN 0304-0720; v. 32) Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. 1. Humboldt, Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1767-1835 -- Contributions in linguistics. 2. Linguis tics - History - 19th century. I. Title. II. Series. P85.H8M36 1985 410'.92'4 85-9209 ISBN 90-272-4514-2 (alk. paper) © Copyright 1985 - John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE VII KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS IX INTRODUCTION 1 0.1 Introduction 1 0.2 A brief review of the secondary literature 4 0.3 The structure of Humboldt's philosophy of language 10 PART ONE: THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS CHAPTER ONE: HUMBOLDT'S PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND 17 CHAPTER TWO: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE 2 9 2.1 Introduction 29 2.2 The term 'articulation' 31 2.3 Signification and conceptualization 34 2.4 Earlier versions of the articulation argument 41 CHAPTER THREE: HUMBOLDT'S THEORY OF DESIGNATION 51 3.1 Introduction 51 3.2 Lexical designation 53 3.3 Grammatical designation 60 CHAPTER FOUR: GENERAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE VARIATION 6 7 4.1 Introduction 67 4.2 Different kinds of language variation 68 4.3 Humboldt's treatment of universal grammar 7 0 4.4 The terminology of language variation 79 CHAPTER FIVE: LINGUISTIC VARIATION AND PERCEPTUAL VARIATION 91 5.1 Introduction 91 5.2 Perceptual variation 91 CHAPTER SIX: NATIONAL CHARACTER AND LANGUAGE 103 6.1 Introduction 103 6.2 Humboldt's early discussion of character 105 6.3 Discussion of character in Humboldt's later writings 108 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS PART TWO: THE LINGUISTIC DOCTRINES CHAPTER SEVEN: THE INFLECTIONAL SUPERIORITY THESIS 125 7.1 Introduction 125 7.2 Language typology 127 7.3 The meaning of 'inflection' for Humboldt 128 7.4 The argument for the inflectional superiority thesis 133 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY THESIS 143 8.1 Introduction 143 8.2 The historical context 145 8.3 Humboldt's philosophical grounding of the linguistic relativity thesis 149 8.4 The conjunction of linguistic relativity with linguistic variation 155 CONCLUSION 159 NOTES 165 REFERENCES 201 INDEX NOMINUM 20 9 INDEX RERUM 215 PREFACE This study was initially completed in the Spring of 1980 as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Toronto. The version here published varies from that version by a number of revisions. The several addi­ tions to the Humboldt literature in the intervening period (most notably Borsche 1981) have not led me to alter the basic claims made in this study, but several tangential sections have been deleted, Chapters two and seven have been rewritten, a brief conclusion added, and the whole text somewhat streamlined. A shortened ver­ sion of Chapter seven was published in the interim as an article (Manchester 1982). My hope is that the book may succeed both in being of interest to specialists on Humboldt, and serving as an introductory survey of Humboldt's ideas on language, accessible to the general student. If it only manages to accomplish one of those purposes, however, I would prefer the latter. The Humboldt literature contains many treatments of special themes in Humboldt's work, but very few attempts to establish a general framework within which the mutual relationship of those special themes is clearly determined. Regardless of whether or not such a framework can indeed be justly attributed to Humboldt (itself an issue of considerable disagreement), it seems clear that Humboldt interpretation will remain fragmented until it at least attempts to move in this direction. I am indebted to a number of people who assisted me at various points in this project. In particular I am grateful to Graeme Nicholson, Kenneth Schmitz, Harry Roe, Brendon Gillon, and Vahan Benglian. The comments of the publisher's reader were very helpful in revision of the dissertation, especially in pointing out sources which I had overlooked earlier. I am thankful for the graciously given technical assistance of Joel Taunton in the final preparation of the manuscript. I am grateful to the publisher for their acceptance of this study for the SiHoL series, and for their patience over the long period between their acceptance and the appearance of the book at this time. Finally, and most of all, I appreciate the direction and attention provided by the editor of the series, Konrad Koerner, whose insistence VIII PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS upon clarity and consistency, as well as attention to details of format, have improved this study both in terms of presentation and substance. His prompt and pointed attention to my revisions has been in marked contrast to the slow pace with which I have completed those revisions, and I greatly appreciate his patience and the perspicuity of his advice. Concord, Massachusetts September, 198 4 M.L. Manchester KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS The following list is composed primarily of Hum­ boldt's writings on language from the period 1820-1835, although several earlier works are included. For con­ venience of citation I use, both in the text and in the endnotes, the abbreviations given in the left hand col­ umn. All of these writings are to be found in the basic edition of Humboldt's works, Wilhelm von Humboldts Ge­ sammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1903ff, edited by the Prus­ sian Academy of Sciences. The date indicated is that of publication, in those cases where the essay was publish­ ed during Humboldt's lifetime. In other cases the date is the approximate date of composition, as determined by Albert Leitzmann, principal editor of the Gesammelte Schriften. I cite that edition throughout. All trans­ lations, unless otherwise indicated, are my own. Engels Vortr. Aus Engels philosophischen Vor­ trägen. 1785-86. Kleins Vortr. Aus Kleins Vorträgen über Natur ­ recht. 1785-86. Tagebücher I and II Tagebücher, vol. I. 1788-98; vol. II. 1799-1835. (The journals end in 1801. Other materials are in­ cluded here.) DuS Ueber Denken und Sprechen. 1795-96 ges. Sprachst. Einleitung in das gesamte Sprach­ studium. 1810-1811. Sprachverwandtschaft Ueber Sprachverwandtschaft. 1812-14 vergi. Sprachstudium Ueber das vergleichende Sprachstud­ ium in Beziehung auf die verschied­ enen Epochen der Sprachentwicklung. 1820 Entstehen Ueber das Entstehen der grammat­ ischen Formen und ihren Einfluss auf die Ideenentwicklung. 1821 Einfluss Ueber den Einfluss des Verschied­ enen Charakters der Sprachen auf