Читать книгу The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt - Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison) Brinton - Страница 9
The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages
§ 9. Internal Form of Languages
ОглавлениеBesides the grammatical form of a language, Humboldt recognized another which he called its internal form. This is that subtle something not expressed in words, which even more than the formal parts of speech, reveals the linguistic genius of a nation. It may be defined as the impression which the language bears of the clearness of the conceptions of those speaking it, and of their native gift of speech. He illustrates it by instancing the absence of a developed mode in Sanscrit, and maintains that in the creators of that tongue the conception of modality was never truly felt and distinguished from tense. In this respect its inner form was greatly inferior to the Greek, in the mind of which nation the ideally perfect construction of the verb unfolded itself with far more clearness.
The study of this inner form of a language belongs to the highest realm of linguistic investigation, and is that which throws the most light on the national character and capacities.34
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On this subtle point, which has been by no means the least difficult to his commentators, see Humboldt’s Introduction Ueber die Verschiedenheit, etc., Ges. Werke, Bd. vi, ss. 45-6, 92-5, 254-5, by a careful comparison of which passages his real intent will become apparent.
