This is an entirely new translation of one of the fundamental works in the development of the study of language. Published in 1836, it formed the general introduction to Wilhelm von Humboldt's three-volume treatise on the Kawi language of Java. It is the final statement of his lifelong study of the nature of language, and presents a survey of a great many languages, exploring ways in which their various grammatical structures make them more or less suitable as vehicles of thought and cultural development. Empirically wide-ranging - von Humboldt goes far beyond the Indo-European family of languages - it remains one of the most interesting and important attempts to draw philosophical conclusions from comparative linguistics.
- ISBN13 9780521315135
- Publish Date 28 July 1988
- Publish Status Inactive
- Out of Print 1 March 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 368
- Language English