Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin — Reading Notes

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In Category - Language Study

Authors: Jespersen, Otto, 1860-1943 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2016 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Language and languages Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 196,151

Reading time 853 min

Text sections 31

For Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin — Reading Notes, the stored edition analysis reports 196,151 words, 14 hr 13 min estimated reading time, and 31 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 25.4 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Language and languages,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #53038

Jespersen's 1922 study examines language as purposeful activity, using historical evidence and cross-linguistic examples to challenge organic metaphors. The excerpts show a focus on women's role in phonetic change and word formation, with specific cases from Botocudo, Japanese, French, and English.

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

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32 III. MIDDLE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 63 IV. END OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 89

V. SOUNDS 103 VI. WORDS 113 VII. GRAMMAR 128 VIII. SOME FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS 140 IX. THE INFLUENCE OF THE CHILD ON LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT 161 X. THE INFLUENCE OF THE CHILD (_continued_) 172

_BOOK III_ THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE WORLD

XI. THE FOREIGNER 191 XII. PIDGIN AND CONGENERS 216 XIII. THE WOMAN 237 XIV. CAUSES OF CHANGE 255 XV. CAUSES OF CHANGE (_continued_) 276

_BOOK IV_ DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE

XVI. ETYMOLOGY 305 XVII. PROGRESS OR DECAY? 319 XVIII. PROGRESS 337 XIX. ORIGIN OF GRAMMATICAL ELEMENTS 367 XX. SOUND SYMBOLISM 396 XXI. THE ORIGIN OF SPEECH 412

ABBREVIATIONS OF BOOK TITLES, ETC.

Bally LV = Ch. Bally, _Le Langage et la Vie_, Genève 1913.

Benfey Gesch = Th. Benfey, _Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft_, München 1869.

Bleek CG = W. H. I. Bleek, _Comparative Grammar of South African Languages_, London 1862-69.

Bloomfield SL = L. Bloomfield, _An Introduction to the Study of Language_, New York 1914.

Bopp C = F. Bopp, _Conjugationssystem der Sanskritsprache_, Frankfurt 1816.

AC = _Analytical Comparison_ (see ch. ii, § 6).

VG = _Vergleichende Grammatik_, 2te Ausg., Berlin 1857.

Bréal M = M. Bréal, _Mélanges de Mythologie et de Linguistique_, Paris 1882.

Brugmann VG = K. Brugmann, _Grundriss der Vergleichenden Grammatik_, Strassburg 1886 ff., 2te Ausg., 1897 ff.

KG = _Kurze Vergleichende Grammatik_, Strassburg 1904.

ChE = O. Jespersen, _Chapters on English_, London 1918.

Churchill B = W. Churchill, _Beach-la-Mar_, Washington 1911.

Curtius C = G. Curtius, _Zur Chronologie der indogerm. Sprachforschung_, Leipzig 1873.

K = _Zur Kritik der neuesten Sprachforschung_, Leipzig 1885.

Dauzat V = A. Dauzat, _La Vie du Langage_, Paris 1910.

Ph = _La Philosophie du Langage_, Paris 1912.

Delbrück E = B. Delbrück, _Einleitung in das Sprachstudium_, Leipzig 1880; 5te Aufl. 1908.

Grfr = _Grundfragen der Sprachforschung_, Strassburg 1901.

EDD = J. Wright, _The English Dialect Dictionary_, Oxford 1898 ff.

ESt = _Englische Studien_.

Feist KI = S. Feist, _Kultur, Ausbreitung und Herkunft der Indogermanen_, Berlin 1913.

Fonetik = O. Jespersen, _Fonetik_, Copenhagen 1897.

Gabelentz Spr = G. v. d. Gabelentz, _Die Sprachwissenschaft_, Leipzig 1891.

Gr = _Chinesische Grammatik_, Leipzig 1881.

Ginneken LP = J. v. Ginneken, _Principes de Linguistique Psychologique_, Amsterdam, Paris 1907.

Glenconner = P. Glenconner, _The Sayings of the Children_, Oxford 1918.

Greenough and Kittredge W = J. B. Greenough and G. L. Kittredge, _Words and their Ways in English Speech_, London 1902.

Grimm Gr. = J. Grimm, _Deutsche Grammatik_, 2te Ausg., Göttingen 1822.

GDS = _Geschichte der deutschen Sprache_, 4te Aufl., Leipzig 1880.

GRM = _Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift_.

GS = O. Jespersen, _Growth and Structure of the English Language_, 3rd ed., Leipzig 1919.

Hilmer Sch = H. Hilmer, _Schallnachahmung, Wortschöpfung u. Bedeutungswandel_, Halle 1914.

Hirt GDS = H. Hirt, _Geschichte der deutschen Sprache_, München 1919.

Idg = _Die Indogermanen_, Strassburg 1905-7.

Humboldt Versch = W. v. Humboldt, _Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaues_ (number of pages as in the original edition).

IF = _Indogermanische Forschungen_.

KZ = Kuhn’s _Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung_.

Lasch S = R. Lasch, _Sondersprachen u. ihre Entstehung_, Wien 1907.

LPh = O. Jespersen, _Lehrbuch der Phonetik_, 3te Aufl., Leipzig 1920.

Madvig 1857 = J. N. Madvig, _De grammatische Betegnelser_, Copenhagen 1857.

Kl = _Kleine philologische Schriften_, Leipzig 1875.

ME. = Middle English.

MEG = O. Jespersen, _Modern English Grammar_, Heidelberg 1909, 1914.

Meillet DI = A. Meillet, _Les Dialectes Indo-Européens_, Paris 1908.

Germ. = _Caractères généraux des Langues Germaniques_, Paris 1917.

Gr = _Aperçu d’une Histoire de la Langue Grecque_, Paris 1913.

LI = _Introduction à l’étude comp. des Langues Indo-Européennes_, 2e éd., Paris 1908.

Meinhof Ham = C. Meinhof, _Die hamitischen Sprachen_, Hamburg 1912.

MSA = _Die moderne Sprachforschung in Afrika_, Berlin 1910.

Meringer L = R. Meringer, _Aus dem Leben der Sprache_, Berlin 1908.

Misteli = F. Misteli, _Charakteristik der haupts. Typen des Sprachbaues_, Berlin 1893.

MSL = _Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique de Paris_.

Fr. Müller Gr = Friedrich Müller, _Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft_, Wien 1876 ff.

Max Müller Ch = F. Max Müller, _Chips from a German Workshop_, vol. iv, London 1875.

NED = _A New English Dictionary_, by Murray, etc., Oxford 1884 ff.

Noreen UL = A. Noreen, _Abriss der urgermanischen Lautlehre_, Strassburg 1894.

VS = _Vårt Språk_, Lund 1903 ff.

Nyrop Gr = Kr. Nyrop, _Grammaire Historique de la Langue Française_, Copenhagen 1914 ff.

OE. = Old English (Anglo-Saxon).

Oertel = H. Oertel, _Lectures on the Study of Language_, New York 1901.

Passy Ch = P. Passy, _Les Changements Phonétiques_, Paris 1890.

Paul P = H. Paul, _Prinzipien der Sprachgeschichte_, 4te Aufl., Halle 1909.

Gr = _Grundriss der germanischen Philologie_.

PBB = _Beitrage zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache_ (Paul u. Braune).

Pedersen GKS = H. Pedersen, _Vergl. Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen_, Göttingen 1909.

PhG = O. Jespersen, _Phonetische Grundfragen_, Leipzig 1904.

Porzezinski Spr = V. Porzezinski, _Einleitung in die Sprachwissenschaft_, Leipzig 1910.

Progr. = O. Jespersen, _Progress in Language_, London 1894.

Rask P = R. Rask [Prisskrift] _Undersögelse om det gamle Nordiske Sprogs Oprindelse_, Copenhagen 1818.

SA = _Samlede Afhandlinger_, Copenhagen 1834.

Raumer Gesch = R. v. Raumer, _Geschichte der germanischen Philologie_, München 1870.

Ronjat = J. Ronjat, _Le Développement du Langage chez un Enfant Bilingue_, Paris 1913.

Sandfeld Jensen S = Kr. Sandfeld Jensen, _Sprogvidenskaben_, Copenhagen 1913.

Sprw = _Die Sprachwissenschaft_, Leipzig 1915.

Saussure LG = F. de Saussure, _Cours de Linguistique Générale_, Lausanne 1916.

Sayce P = A. H. Sayce, _Principles of Comparative Philology_, 2nd ed., London 1875.

S = _Introduction to the Science of Language_, London 1880.

Scherer GDS = W. Scherer, _Zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache_, Berlin 1878.

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Jespersen opens by rejecting the common metaphor of language as a 'living organism,' insisting instead that language is 'activity, purposeful activity' performed by speaking individuals. This stance sets the tone for a work that grounds linguistic analysis in human behavior and social context. The preface explicitly aligns the book with evolutionary thinking while warning against metaphors that obscure real facts.

The excerpts reveal a methodical approach: Jespersen draws on ethnographic reports, historical grammarians, and phonetic studies to build arguments. Readers should note how he moves from general principle to concrete evidence, often citing specific observers like v. Martius on Botocudo or Thurot on French pronunciation.

Women as Linguistic Innovators

A striking pattern in the excerpts is Jespersen's repeated attention to women's role in language change. He cites v. Martius's account of Botocudo women inventing new words and composing songs, then turns to Japan, where women are 'less conservative than men' in pronunciation and vocabulary. Examples include the shift from watakshi to atashi for 'I' and the greater use of politeness prefixes like o- and go-.

For European languages, Jespersen quotes 16th- and 17th-century grammarians who noted women leading vowel changes: Sir Thomas Smith's 'mulierculae quædam delicatiores' and Alexander Gill's 'nostræ Mopsæ' who 'attenuate everything.' In 18th-century France, women reportedly shifted a to e in words like madame becoming medeme. Jespersen also links the weakening of trilled r to indoor life and refined domesticity, suggesting women's speech habits influenced this change.

Phonetic Change and Social Life

Jespersen connects sound change to broader social shifts. The weakening of the tongue-point r is tied to a move from outdoor to indoor life: 'the old loud trilled point sound is natural and justified when life is chiefly carried on out-of-doors, but indoor life prefers... less noisy speech habits.' He describes the original r as 'the rubadub in the orchestra of language,' a rare metaphor that nonetheless grounds phonetic evolution in human environment.

Similarly, Japanese women's advanced loss of w is attributed to their lesser exposure to written language. Jespersen contrasts this with England and France, where women 'avoid neologisms' and stay closer to written forms—except in Southern England, where the wh sound 'is scarcely ever pronounced except in girls' schools.' These observations show his comparative method and attention to social stratification.

Word Formation Across Cultures

The Botocudo examples illustrate how new objects receive names through descriptive compounds: krainejoune ('head-teeth') for horse, po-kekri ('foot-cloven') for ox, mgo-jonne-orône ('beast with long ears') for donkey. Jespersen notes that women were 'nearly always' the inventors of such words, as well as composers of songs and dirges. He also observes that even familiar objects may acquire new names that spread through family and community.

This section demonstrates Jespersen's interest in the creative, social process of naming, rather than treating vocabulary as a fixed system. The excerpts do not reveal his full argument about language origin, but they show him using ethnographic data to challenge assumptions about who drives lexical innovation.

Historical Sources and Methodology

Jespersen relies heavily on earlier scholars' observations, quoting grammarians like Sir Thomas Smith (1567), Mulcaster (1582), and Alexander Gill (1621) for English, and Alemand (1688) and Grimarest (1712) for French. He also cites Thurot's work on French pronunciation. These sources provide direct testimony about pronunciation differences between men and women, which Jespersen treats as evidence of ongoing change.

His method is to compile such reports from diverse languages and periods, then draw general conclusions about social factors in language change. Readers should note that the excerpts are fragmentary; the full book likely develops these threads more systematically. The preface warns against taking metaphors literally, and the excerpts show Jespersen practicing what he preaches by grounding claims in specific, dated observations.

Jespersen's approach rewards readers who attend to his use of evidence: each claim is tied to a named source, a specific community, or a phonetic detail. The excerpts suggest a work that is both historical and comparative, with a consistent focus on speakers as social beings. Readers should expect a dense but clear argument, built from concrete examples rather than abstract theory. The book's length (over 196,000 words) allows for extensive documentation, and the excerpts hint at a rich store of linguistic anecdotes and analyses.

Reading Jespersen’s careful tracing of women’s speech into new phonetic habits reminded me of sitting with my grandmother’s old dictionary, its margins filled with her pencil notes. I felt that same quiet wonder later in the Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Herman Melville — Story, Setting & Ideas, where every title felt like a door left ajar. Language drifts, and so do we.