Hermann Collitz
Encyclopedia
Hermann Collitz, Ph. D. was an eminent German
historical linguist
and Indo-Europeanist
, who spent much of his career in the United States
. He received the doctorate
in 1878 at the University of Göttingen with a dissertation on The Emergence of the Indo-Iranian
Palatal
Series (German: Die Entstehung der indoiranischen Palatalreihe), and his 1885 Habilitation
degree at the University of Halle for The Inflection
of Noun
s with Threefold Gradation
in Old Indic
and in Greek
: the Case of the Singular (German: Die Flexion der Nomina mit dreifacher Stammabstufung im Altindischen und im Griechischen – Die Casus des Singular).
In 1886, Collitz emigrated to the United States, where he taught at Bryn Mawr College
in Philadelphia. In 1907, he moved to Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore, Maryland, where he took up a chair in Germanic
studies.
In 1924, Collitz was elected the first president of the Linguistic Society of America
. In 1927, he officially retired from Johns Hopkins, but remained in Baltimore until his death in 1935.
He published:
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
historical linguist
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 Indo-Europeanist
Indo-European studies
Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. Its goal is to amass information about the hypothetical proto-language from which all of these languages are descended, a language dubbed Proto-Indo-European , and its speakers, the...
, who spent much of his career in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He received the doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1878 at the University of Göttingen with a dissertation on The Emergence of the Indo-Iranian
Indo-Iranian languages
The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan, Iranian and Nuristani...
Palatal
Palatal consonant
Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate...
Series (German: Die Entstehung der indoiranischen Palatalreihe), and his 1885 Habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
degree at the University of Halle for The Inflection
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
of Noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s with Threefold Gradation
Indo-European ablaut
In linguistics, ablaut is a system of apophony in Proto-Indo-European and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages...
in Old Indic
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
and in 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;...
: the Case of the Singular (German: Die Flexion der Nomina mit dreifacher Stammabstufung im Altindischen und im Griechischen – Die Casus des Singular).
In 1886, Collitz emigrated to the United States, where he taught at Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
in Philadelphia. In 1907, he moved to Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in Baltimore, Maryland, where he took up a chair in Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
studies.
In 1924, Collitz was elected the first president of the Linguistic Society of America
Linguistic Society of America
The Linguistic Society of America is a professional society for linguists. It was founded in 1924 to advance linguistics, the scientific study of human language. The LSA has over 5,000 individual members and welcomes linguists of all kinds. It works to advance the discipline and to communicate...
. In 1927, he officially retired from Johns Hopkins, but remained in Baltimore until his death in 1935.
He published:
- Sammlung der griechischen Dialektinschriften (1884-1909; with Bechtel)
- Die Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der griechischen Dialekte (1895)
- Die neueste Sprachforschung (1886)