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RASK, RASMUS CHRISTIAN (1787-1832)

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 912 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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RASK, RASMUS CHRISTIAN (1787-1832)

RASK, RASMUS See also:
CHRISTIAN
CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM (1608-1663)
CHRISTIAN (1787-1832) , Danish See also:

SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar and philologist, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born at Brandekilde in the See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island of Fiinen or Fyen in See also:

Denmark in 1787. He studied at the university of See also:

COPENHAGEN (Danish Kjobenhavn)

Copenhagen, and at once showed remarkable See also:

TALENT (Lat. talentum, adaptation of Gr. TaXavrov, balance, ! Recollections of a First Visit to the Alps (1841); Vacation Rambles weight, from root raX-, to lift, as in rXi vac, to bear, 1-aXas, and Thoughts, comprising recollections of three Continental

talent for the acquisition of See also:

LANGUAGES

languages. In 18o8 he was appointed assistant keeper of the university library, and some years afterwards See also:

PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

professor of See also:

LITERARY

literary See also:

HISTORY

history. In 1811 he published, in Danish, his Introduction to the See also:

GRAMMAR (from Lat. grammatica, sc. ars; Gr. ypaµ)

Grammar of the Icelandic and other See also:

Ancient See also:

NORTHERN

Northern Languages, from printed and MS. materials accumulated by his predecessors in the same See also:

field of See also:

RESEARCH (O. Fr. recerche, from recercher, re- and cercer, mod. chercher, to search; Late Lat. circare, to go round in a circle, to explore)

research. The reputation which Rask thus acquired recommended him to the Arna-Magnaean Institution, by which he was employed as editor of the Icelandic See also:

LEXICON

Lexicon (1814) of Bjorn Haldorson, which had See also:

long remained in See also:

MANUSCRIPT

manuscript. Rask visited See also:

ICELAND (Dan. Island)

Iceland, where he remained from 1813 to 1815, mastering the See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language and familiarizing himself with the literature, See also:

MANNERS, CHARLES (1857– )

manners and customs of the natives. To the See also:

INTEREST

interest with which they in-spired him may probably be attributed the See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment at Copenhagen, See also:

early in 1816, of the Icelandic Literary Society, of which he was the first See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

president. In See also:

OCTOBER

October 1816 Rask See also:

LEFT

left Denmark on a literary expedition, at the cost of the See also:

king, to prosecute inquiries into the languages of the See also:

East, and collect See also:

MANUSCRIPTS

manuscripts for the university library at Copenhagen. He proceeded first to See also:

Sweden, where he remained two years, in the course of which he made an excursion into See also:

FINLAND (Finnish, Suomi or Suomenmaa)

Finland to study the language. Here he published, in See also:

SWEDISH

Swedish, his Anglo-Saxon Grammar in 1817. In 1818 thereappeared at Copenhagen, in Danish, an See also:

ESSAY, ESSAYIST (Fr. essai, Late Lat. exagium, a weighing or balance; exigere, to examine; the term in general meaning any trial or effort)

Essay on the Origin of the Ancient Scandinavian or Icelandic See also:

TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

Tongue, in which he traced the See also:

affinity of that See also:

IDIOM (Gr. t&%wµa, something peculiar and personal; lbws, one's own, personal)

idiom to the other See also:

EUROPEAN

European languages, particularly Latin and See also:

Greek. In the same See also:

YEAR

year he brought out the first See also:

COMPLETE

complete See also:

EDITIONS

editions of Snorro's See also:

EDDA

Edda and Saemund's Edda, in the See also:

ORIGINAL

original See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text, along with Swedish See also:

TRANSLATIONS

translations of both Eddas.

From See also:

STOCKHOLM

Stockholm he went in 1819 to St See also:

PETERSBURG

Petersburg, where he wrote, in See also:

German, a See also:

paper on " The Languages and Literature of See also:

Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Finland," in the See also:

SIXTH

sixth number of the See also:

Vienna Jahrbucher. From See also:

Russia he proceeded through Tartary into See also:

PERSIA

Persia, and resided for some See also:

time at See also:

TABRIZ

Tabriz, See also:

Teheran, See also:

PERSEPOLIS

Persepolis and See also:

SHIRAZ

Shiraz. In about six See also:

WEEKS, EDWIN LORD (1849-1903)

weeks he made himself sufficiently See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master of See also:

Persian to be able to converse freely. In 1820 he embarked at See also:

BUSHIRE, or BANDER BUSHIRE

Bushire for Bombay; and during his See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence there he wrote, in See also:

ENGLISH

English, " A Dissertation on the Authenticity of the Zend Language" (Trans. Lit. See also:

Soc. of Bombay, vol. iii., re-printed with corrections and additions in Trans. R. As. Soc.). From Bombay he proceeded through See also:

India to See also:

CEYLON

Ceylon, where he arrived in 1822, and soon afterwards wrote, in English, " A Dissertation respecting the best Method of expressing the Sounds of the See also:

INDIAN

Indian Languages in European Characters," in the Transactions of the Literary and Agricultural Society of See also:

COLOMBO

Colombo. Rask returned to Copenhagen in May 1823, bringing a considerable number of See also:

ORIENTAL

Oriental manuscripts, Persian, Zend, See also:

PALI

Pali, Sinhalese and others, with which he enriched the collections of the Danish See also:

capital. He died at Copenhagen on the 14th of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 183 2.

During the See also:

period between his return from the East and his See also:

DEATH

death Rask published in his native language a See also:

SPANISH

Spanish Grammar (1824), a Frisic Grammar (1825), an Essay on Danish See also:

ORTHOGRAPHY (from Gr. Opeoc, correct, right or straight, and yp&cbecv, to write)

Orthography (1826), a See also:

TREATISE

Treatise respecting the Ancient See also:

EGYPTIAN

Egyptian See also:

CHRONOLOGY (Gr. xpovo?oyfa, computation of time, xp6vos)

Chronology and an See also:

ITALIAN

Italian Grammar, (1827), and the Ancient Jewish Chronology pervious to See also:

Moses (1828). He also edited an edition of See also:

Schneider's Danish Grammar for the use of Englishmen (183o), and superintended the English See also:

TRANSLATION

translation of his Anglo-Saxon Grammar by See also:

Thorpe (183o). He was the first to point out the connexion between the ancient Northern and See also:

GOTHIC

Gothic on the one See also:

hand, and the Lithuanian, Sclavonic, Greek and Latin on the other, and he also deserves See also:

CREDIT (Lat. credere, to believe)

credit for having had the original See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of " See also:

Grimm's See also:

Law " for the transmutation of consonants in the transition from the old Indo-European languages to See also:

Teutonic, although he only compared Teutonic and Greek, See also:

SANSKRIT

Sanskrit being at the time unknown to him. In 1822 he was master of no less than twenty-five languages and dialects, and is stated to have studied twice as many. His numerous philological manuscripts were transferred to the king's library at Copenhagen. Rask's Anglo-Saxon, Danish and Icelandic Grammars were brought out in English editions by Thorpe, Repp and See also:

DASENT, SIR GEORGE WEBBE (1817–1896)

Dasent respectively.

End of Article: RASK, RASMUS CHRISTIAN (1787-1832)

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