Maurice Bloomfield
Encyclopedia
Maurice Bloomfield, Ph. D., LL.D. (February 23, 1855 – June 12, 1928) was an American
philologist and Sanskrit
scholar.
(today it is in Poland
). His sister was Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler
, and the linguist Leonard Bloomfield
was his nephew.
He went to the United States
in 1867, and 10 years later graduated from Furman University
, Greenville, South Carolina
. He then studied Sanskrit at Yale
, under W. D. Whitney, and at Johns Hopkins University
, to which university he returned as associate professor in 1881 after a stay of two years in Berlin
and Leipzig
, and soon afterwards was promoted professor of Sanskrit and comparative philology
. In 1896 Princeton University
bestowed the LL.D. degree upon him.
His papers in the American Journal of Philology number a few in comparative linguistics
, such as those on assimilation and adaptation in congeneric classes of words, and many valuable contributions to the interpretation of the Vedas
, and he is best known as a student of the Vedas. He translated, for Max Müller
's Sacred Books of the East
, the Hymns of the Atharva-Veda (1897); contributed to the Buhler-Kielhorn Grundriss der indo-arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde the section The Atharva-Veda and the Gopatha Brahmana (1899); was first to edit the Kauika-Sutra (1890), and in 1907 published, in the Harvard Oriental series, A Vedic Concordance. In 1905 he published Cerberus, the Dog of Hades, a study in comparative mythology
. The Religion of the Veda appeared in 1908; Life and Stories of the Jaina Savior Parasvanatha and a work on the Rig Veda in 1916.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philologist and Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
scholar.
Biography
Bloomfield was born in Bielitz , in what was at that time Austrian SilesiaAustrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia , officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Empire, from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
(today it is in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
). His sister was Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler
Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler
Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler was an Austrian-born U.S. pianist.- Biography :Zeisler was born Fannie Blumenfeld on July 16, 1863, in Bielitz, Austrian Silesia. She emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 4 in 1867. The family settled in Chicago, Illinois where they later changed...
, and the linguist Leonard Bloomfield
Leonard Bloomfield
Leonard Bloomfield was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. His influential textbook Language, published in 1933, presented a comprehensive description of American structural linguistics...
was his nephew.
He went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1867, and 10 years later graduated from Furman University
Furman University
Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...
, Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
. He then studied Sanskrit at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, under W. D. Whitney, and at 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...
, to which university he returned as associate professor in 1881 after a stay of two years in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, and soon afterwards was promoted professor of Sanskrit and comparative philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
. In 1896 Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
bestowed the LL.D. degree upon him.
His papers in the American Journal of Philology number a few in comparative linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, such as those on assimilation and adaptation in congeneric classes of words, and many valuable contributions to the interpretation of the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, and he is best known as a student of the Vedas. He translated, for Max Müller
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller , more regularly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion...
's Sacred Books of the East
Sacred Books of the East
The Sacred Books of the East is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious writings, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910...
, the Hymns of the Atharva-Veda (1897); contributed to the Buhler-Kielhorn Grundriss der indo-arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde the section The Atharva-Veda and the Gopatha Brahmana (1899); was first to edit the Kauika-Sutra (1890), and in 1907 published, in the Harvard Oriental series, A Vedic Concordance. In 1905 he published Cerberus, the Dog of Hades, a study in comparative mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
. The Religion of the Veda appeared in 1908; Life and Stories of the Jaina Savior Parasvanatha and a work on the Rig Veda in 1916.