Heinrich Schmid
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Schmid was a Swiss
linguist and "father" of the Rhaeto-Romance
Dachsprachen ("umbrella languages") Rumantsch Grischun and Ladin Dolomitan.
Heinrich Schmid lived his entire life in the same house in Zürich
in which he was born. Although he was born with a hearing impairment, he discovered a love for languages at a young age learning Greek
alongside Latin
and the Romance languages
French
, Italian
, Spanish
and the different varieties of Romansh.
After matriculating, he read Romance studies
at the University of Zürich
. He graduated with first class honours (summa cum laude) in 1946, the core theme of his studies being the History of Languages
and the Geography of Languages
.
After a stay in Florence
he returned to Switzerland where it was very difficult for him to find a suitable occupation due to his hearing impairment. He was eventually taken on as an employee for the (Rhaetian Lexicon of Names) and contributed for 15 years to the .
In 1962 he qualified to work as professor at the University of Zürich. Within a short period of time he became an assistant professor and three years later was promoted to an associate professor position. A busy but less spectacular academic career followed.
Shortly before retiring from his teaching career in 1983, the Lia Rumantscha (Romansh League) asked him to create a common written language for the five main varieties of the Romansh language. In April 1982, after only six months of intense work, he presented his guidelines for the common written language. This was followed by lively discussions and journeys to the whole Romansh language area, where he tirelessly promoted the common written language and was able to allay many reservations. As a result the Romansh language has been publicly recognised to a much greater extent in Switzerland and a new vitality entered the Romansh-speaking area which also included Ladin
.
In 1988 representatives from the Dolomite Ladins gave Heinrich Schmid the task of also creating a common written format of the Ladin language. Schmid accepted this challenge and produced the publication entitled (Guidelines for the Development of a Common Written Language for the Dolomite Ladins). However, he did not live to see the Italian publication of this fundamental work, as he died of a heart attack in February 1999.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
linguist and "father" of the Rhaeto-Romance
Rhaeto-Romance languages
Rhaeto-Romance languages are a Romance language sub-family which includes multiple languages spoken in north and north-eastern Italy, and Switzerland...
Dachsprachen ("umbrella languages") Rumantsch Grischun and Ladin Dolomitan.
Heinrich Schmid lived his entire life in the same house in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
in which he was born. Although he was born with a hearing impairment, he discovered a love for languages at a young age learning Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
alongside Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and the Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and the different varieties of Romansh.
After matriculating, he read Romance studies
Romance studies
Romance studies is an umbrella academic discipline that covers the study of the languages, literatures, and cultures of areas that speak a Romance language. Romance studies departments usually include the study of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese...
at the University of Zürich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
. He graduated with first class honours (summa cum laude) in 1946, the core theme of his studies being the History of Languages
Historical linguistics
Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...
and the Geography of Languages
Language geography
Language geography is the branch of human geography that studies the geographic distribution of language or its constituent elements. There are two principal fields of study within the geography of language: the "geography of languages", which deals with the distribution through history and space...
.
After a stay in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
he returned to Switzerland where it was very difficult for him to find a suitable occupation due to his hearing impairment. He was eventually taken on as an employee for the (Rhaetian Lexicon of Names) and contributed for 15 years to the .
In 1962 he qualified to work as professor at the University of Zürich. Within a short period of time he became an assistant professor and three years later was promoted to an associate professor position. A busy but less spectacular academic career followed.
Shortly before retiring from his teaching career in 1983, the Lia Rumantscha (Romansh League) asked him to create a common written language for the five main varieties of the Romansh language. In April 1982, after only six months of intense work, he presented his guidelines for the common written language. This was followed by lively discussions and journeys to the whole Romansh language area, where he tirelessly promoted the common written language and was able to allay many reservations. As a result the Romansh language has been publicly recognised to a much greater extent in Switzerland and a new vitality entered the Romansh-speaking area which also included Ladin
Ladin
Ladin is a language consisting of a group of dialects spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the border regions of the provinces Trentino, South Tyrol and Belluno...
.
In 1988 representatives from the Dolomite Ladins gave Heinrich Schmid the task of also creating a common written format of the Ladin language. Schmid accepted this challenge and produced the publication entitled (Guidelines for the Development of a Common Written Language for the Dolomite Ladins). However, he did not live to see the Italian publication of this fundamental work, as he died of a heart attack in February 1999.
Further reading
- Maria Iliescu, Guntram A. Plangg, Paul Videsott (ed.): Die vielfältige Romania. Dialekt – Sprache – Überdachungssprache. Gedenkschrift für Heinrich Schmid (1921–1999). Istitut Cultural Ladin „Majon di Fascegn“, VichVigo di FassaVigo di Fassa is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 60 km northeast of Trento...
2001, ISBN 88-86053-23-1.