Re: Leonard Bloomfield died (18-4-1949)

On 2024-04-20, Aidan Kehoe <kehoea@parhasard.net> wrote:

"The most difficult step in the study of language is the first step. Again
and again, scholarship has approached the study of language without actually
entering upon it. Linguistic science arose from relatively practical
preoccupations, such as the use of writing, the study of literature and
especially of older records, and the prescription of elegant speech, but
people can spend any amount of time on these things without actually
entering into linguistic study."

>
A very small-tent approach, odd to take it as someone academically senior, who
might be thought to have reason to increase his area of interest. Rules out
PTD’s ‘The World’s Writing Systems’ for one.

It's not clear to me that the systematic study of writing systems
is covered by the preoccupations listed above.  I think it translates
to "people's musings about language before 1800 or so", with a few
notable exceptions (Pāṇini, First Grammarian).

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber                          naddy@mips.inka.de