Array ( [0] => {{Short description|Study of language in historical sources}} [1] => {{Distinguish|philosophy}} [2] => [3] => {{Linguistics}} [4] => [5] => '''Philology''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|φιλολογία}}'' ({{grc-transl|φιλολογία}})|love of word}}) is the study of [[language]] in [[Oral tradition|oral]] and [[writing|written]] [[historical source]]s. It is the intersection of [[textual criticism]], [[literary criticism]], [[history]], and [[linguistics]] with strong ties to [[etymology]].{{cite book|title=Ecrits de linguistique generale|last=SAUSSURE|first=Ferdinand de|publisher=Gallimard|year=2002|isbn=9782070761166|location=Paris}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/philology00peiluoft |page=[https://archive.org/details/philology00peiluoft/page/5 5] |title=Philology |last=Peile |first=John |publisher=Macmillan and Co. |year=1880 |access-date=2011-07-16}} Philology is also defined as the study of literary texts and oral and written records, the establishment of their [[authentication|authenticity]] and their original form, and the determination of their meaning. A person who pursues this kind of study is known as a '''philologist'''. In older usage, especially British, philology is more general, covering [[comparative linguistics|comparative]] and [[historical linguistics]].{{cite web |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/philology |title=philology |website=dictionary.com |access-date=2016-12-26 |archive-date=2017-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104143458/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/philology |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/philology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226221454/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/philology |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 26, 2016 |title=philology |website=oxforddictionaries.com}} [6] => [7] => [[Classical philology]] studies [[classical languages]]. Classical philology principally originated from the [[Library of Pergamum]] and the [[Library of Alexandria]]{{cite book|last=Hall|first=F. W.|title=A Companion to Classical Texts|year=1968|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford, England|pages=22–52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzW7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA22}} around the fourth century BC, continued by Greeks and Romans throughout the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire]]. It was eventually resumed by European scholars of the [[Renaissance humanism|Renaissance]], where it was soon joined by philologies of other European ([[Germanic philology|Germanic]], [[Celtic studies|Celtic]]), Eurasian ([[Slavistics]], etc.), Asian ([[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Sanskrit grammarians|Sanskrit]], [[Sinology|Chinese]], etc.), and African ([[Egyptian language|Egyptian]], [[Nubian languages|Nubian]], etc.) languages. [[Indo-European studies]] involve the comparative philology of all [[Indo-European languages]]. [8] => [9] => Philology, with its focus on historical development ([[Synchrony and diachrony|diachronic]] analysis), is contrasted with [[Theoretical linguistics|linguistics]] due to [[Ferdinand de Saussure]]'s insistence on the importance of [[Synchronic analysis (linguistics)|synchronic analysis]]. While the contrast continued with the emergence of [[structuralism]] and the emphasis of [[Noam Chomsky]] on [[syntax]], research in historical linguistics often relies on philological materials and findings. [10] => [11] => == Etymology == [12] => The term ''[[:wikt:philology|philology]]'' is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|φιλολογία}} (''philología''),{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23111282 |chapter=φιλολογία |first1=Henry George |last1=Liddell |first2=Robert |last2=Scott |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=2017-05-23 |archive-date=2019-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028205626/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23111282 |url-status=live }} from the terms {{lang|grc|φίλος}} (''phílos'') 'love, affection, loved, beloved, dear, friend' and {{lang|grc|λόγος}} (''lógos'') 'word, articulation, reason', describing a love of learning, of literature, as well as of argument and reasoning, reflecting the range of activities included under the notion of {{lang|grc|[[logos|λόγος]]}}. The term changed little with the Latin ''philologia'', and later entered the English language in the 16th century, from the [[Middle French]] ''philologie'', in the sense of 'love of literature'. [13] => [14] => The [[adjective]] {{lang|grc|φιλόλογος}} (''philólogos'') meant 'fond of discussion or argument, talkative', in [[Koine Greek|Hellenistic Greek]], also implying an excessive ("[[sophism|sophistic]]") preference of argument over the love of true wisdom, {{lang|grc|[[philosophy|φιλόσοφος]]}} (''philósophos''). [15] => [16] => As an [[allegory]] of literary erudition, ''philologia'' appears in fifth-century postclassical literature ([[Martianus Capella]], ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii''), an idea revived in Late Medieval literature ([[Chaucer]], [[John Lydgate|Lydgate]]). [17] => [18] => The meaning of "love of learning and literature" was narrowed to "the study of the historical development of languages" ([[historical linguistics]]) in 19th-century usage of the term. Due to the rapid progress made in understanding [[sound law]]s and [[language change]], the "golden age of philology" lasted throughout the 19th century, or "from [[Giacomo Leopardi]] and [[Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel|Friedrich Schlegel]] to [[Nietzsche]]".{{cite web |url=http://scholar.princeton.edu/nwegmann/ |title=Nikolaus Wegmann, Princeton University Department of German |publisher=Scholar.princeton.edu |access-date=2013-12-04 |archive-date=2017-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719130647/http://scholar.princeton.edu/nwegmann |url-status=live }} [19] => [20] => == Branches == [21] => [22] => === Comparative === [23] => {{main|Comparative philology}} [24] => [[File:Indo European philology historical and comparative 1969.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''Indo-European Philology: Historical and Comparative'' by [[William Burley Lockwood]] (1969)]] [25] => [26] => The [[comparative linguistics]] branch of philology studies the relationship between languages. Similarities between [[Sanskrit]] and [[European languages]] were first noted in the early 16th centuryThis is noted in Juan Mascaro's introduction to his translation of the ''Bhagavad Gita'', in which he dates the first ''Gita'' translation to 1785 (by Charles Williams). Mascaro claims the linguist [[Alexander Hamilton (linguist)|Alexander Hamilton]] stopped in Paris in 1802 after returning from India, and taught Sanskrit to the German critic [[Friedrich von Schlegel]]. Mascaro says this is the beginning of modern study of the roots of the Indo-European languages. and led to speculation of a common ancestor language from which all these descended. It is now named [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]. Philology's interest in ancient languages led to the study of what was, in the 18th century, "exotic" languages, for the light they could cast on problems in understanding and [[decipher]]ing the origins of older texts. [27] => [28] => === Textual === [29] => {{main|Textual criticism}} [30] => Philology also includes the study of texts and their history. It includes elements of [[textual criticism]], trying to reconstruct an author's original text based on variant copies of manuscripts. This branch of research arose among ancient scholars in the Greek-speaking world of the 4th century BC, who desired to establish a standard text of popular authors for both sound interpretation and secure transmission. Since that time, the original principles of textual criticism have been improved and applied to other widely distributed texts such as the [[Bible]]. Scholars have tried to reconstruct the original readings of the Bible from the manuscript variants. This method was applied to classical studies and medieval texts as a way to reconstruct the author's original work. The method produced so-called "critical editions", which provided a reconstructed text accompanied by a "[[critical apparatus]]", i.e., footnotes that listed the various manuscript variants available, enabling scholars to gain insight into the entire manuscript tradition and argue about the variants. [31] => [32] => A related study method known as [[higher criticism]] studies the authorship, date, and provenance of text to place such text in a historical context. As these philological issues are often inseparable from issues of interpretation, there is no clear-cut boundary between philology and [[hermeneutics]]. When text has a significant political or religious influence (such as the reconstruction of Biblical texts), scholars have difficulty reaching objective conclusions. [33] => [34] => Some scholars avoid all critical methods of textual philology, especially in historical linguistics, where it is important to study the actual recorded materials. The movement known as ''[[New Philology (medieval studies)|new philology]]'' has rejected textual criticism because it injects editorial interpretations into the text and destroys the integrity of the individual manuscript, hence damaging the reliability of the data. Supporters of new philology insist on a strict "diplomatic" approach: a faithful rendering of the text exactly as found in the manuscript, without emendations. [35] => [36] => === Cognitive === [37] => {{main|Cognitive philology}} [38] => Another branch of philology, cognitive philology, studies written and oral texts. Cognitive philology considers these oral texts as the results of human mental processes. This science compares the results of textual science with the results of experimental research of both psychology and artificial intelligence production systems. [39] => [40] => === Decipherment === [41] => In the case of [[Bronze Age literature]], philology includes the prior [[decipherment]] of the language under study. This has notably been the case with the [[Ancient Egyptian language|Egyptian]], [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]], [[Akkadian language|Assyrian]], [[Hittite language|Hittite]], [[Ugaritic]], and [[Luwian language|Luwian]] languages. Beginning with the famous decipherment and translation of the [[Rosetta Stone]] by [[Jean-François Champollion]] in 1822, some individuals attempted to decipher the writing systems of the [[Ancient Near East]] and [[Aegean civilization|Aegean]]. In the case of [[Old Persian]] and [[Mycenaean Greek]], decipherment yielded older records of languages already known from slightly more recent traditions ([[Middle Persian]] and [[Ancient Greek|Alphabetic Greek]]). [42] => [43] => Work on the ancient languages of the Near East progressed rapidly. In the mid-19th century, [[Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet|Henry Rawlinson]] and others deciphered the [[Behistun Inscription]], which records the same text in [[Old Persian language|Old Persian]], [[Elamite language|Elamite]], and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], using a variation of [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] for each language. The elucidation of cuneiform led to the decipherment of [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]]. [[Hittite language|Hittite]] was deciphered in 1915 by [[Bedřich Hrozný]]. [44] => [45] => [[Linear B]], a script used in the ancient Aegean, was deciphered in 1952 by [[Michael Ventris]] and [[John Chadwick]], who demonstrated that it recorded an early form of Greek, now known as [[Mycenaean language|Mycenaean Greek]]. [[Linear A]], the writing system that records the still-unknown language of the [[Minoan Civilization|Minoans]], resists deciphering, despite many attempts. [46] => [47] => Work continues on scripts such as the [[Maya script|Maya]], with great progress since the initial breakthroughs of the phonetic approach championed by [[Yuri Knorozov]] and others in the 1950s. Since the late 20th century, the Maya code has been almost completely deciphered, and the Mayan languages are among the most documented and studied in [[Mesoamerica]]. The code is described as a [[logosyllabic]] style of writing. [48] => [49] => == Contention == [50] => In English-speaking countries, usage of the term "philology" to describe work on languages and works of literature, which had become synonymous with the practices of German scholars, was abandoned as a consequence of anti-German feelings following [[World War I]]. Most continental European countries still maintain the term to designate departments, colleges, position titles, and journals. [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] opposed the nationalist reaction against philological practices, claiming that "the philological instinct" was "universal as is the use of language".{{cite journal|last=Tolkien|first=J. R. R.|author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien|year=1923|title=Philology: General Works|journal=The Year's Work in English Studies|volume=4|pages=36–37|doi=10.1093/ywes/IV.1.20|number=1}}[[Richard Utz|Utz, Richard]]. "''Englische Philologie'' vs. English Studies: A Foundational Conflict", in ''Das Potential europäischer Philologien: Geschichte, Leistung, Funktion'', ed. Christoph König (Göttingen: Wallstein, 2009), pp. 34–44. In [[British English]] usage, and British academia, ''philology'' remains largely synonymous with "historical linguistics", while in [[US English]], and US academia, the wider meaning of "study of a language's grammar, history and literary tradition" remains more widespread.[[Anna Morpurgo Davies|A. Morpurgo Davies]], ''History of Linguistics'' (1998) 4 I. 22.M. M. Bravmann, ''Studies in Semitic Philology''. (1977) p. 457. Based on the harsh critique of Friedrich Nietzsche, some US scholars since the 1980s have viewed philology as responsible for a narrowly [[scientism|scientistic]] study of language and literature. [51] => [52] => Disagreements in the modern day of this branch of study are followed with the likes of how the method is treated amongst other scholars, as noted by both the philologists R.D Fulk and Leonard Neidorf who have been quoted saying "This field "philology's commitment to falsification renders it "at odds with what many literary scholars believe because the purpose of philology is to narrow the range of possible interpretations rather than to treat all reasonable ones as equal".{{cite book|last=Neidorf|first=Leonard|title=R.D Fulk and the Progress of Philology|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2016|pages=3}} This use of falsification can be seen in the debate surrounding the etymology of the Old English character [[Unferð|Unferth]] from the heroic epic poem [[Beowulf]]. [53] => [54] => James Turner further disagrees with how the use of the term is dismissed in the academic world, stating that due to its branding as a "simpleminded approach to their subject"{{cite book|last=Turner|first=James|title=Philology: The Forgotten Origins of the Modern Humanities (The William G. Bowen Book 70)|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-691-16858-6|location=Princeton University|language=English}} the term has become unknown to college-educated students, furthering the stereotypes of "scrutiny of ancient Greek or Roman texts of a nit-picking classicist" and only the "technical research into languages and families".{{cite book|last=Turner|first=James|title=Philology: The Forgotten Origins of the Modern Humanities|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-691-16858-6|language=English}} [55] => [56] => == In popular culture == [57] => [58] => In the ''[[The Space Trilogy|Space Trilogy]]'' by [[C. S. Lewis]], the main character, Elwin Ransom, is a philologist – as was Lewis' close friend [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]. [59] => [60] => Dr. Edward Morbius, one of the main characters in the science fiction film ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'', is a philologist. [61] => [62] => Philip, the main character of [[Christopher Hampton]]'s 'bourgeois comedy' [[The Philanthropist (play)|The Philanthropist]], is a professor of philology in an English [[university town]]. [63] => [64] => [[Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld]], the main character in [[Alexander McCall Smith]]'s 1997 comic novel ''[[Portuguese Irregular Verbs]]'' is a philologist, educated at Cambridge. [65] => [66] => The main character in the [[List of submissions to the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film|Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film]] in 2012, ''[[Footnote (film)|Footnote]]'', is a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] philologist, and a significant part of the film deals with his work. [67] => [68] => The main character of the science fiction TV show ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', [[Daniel Jackson (Stargate)|Dr. Daniel Jackson]], is mentioned as having a PhD in philology. [69] => [70] => == See also == [71] => * ''[[American Journal of Philology]]'' [72] => * [[Codicology]] [73] => * [[Elocution]] [74] => * [[Etymology]] [75] => * [[Palaeography]] [76] => * [[Stylistics (linguistics)|Stylistics]] [77] => * [[Textual scholarship]] [78] => * [[Western canon]] [79] => * {{lang|ja-latn|[[Kokugaku]]}} [80] => [81] => == References == [82] => {{reflist|refs= [83] => [84] => Klaus Johan Myrvoll, 'The Ideo-Political Background of "New Philology{{"'}}, ''Studia Neophilologica'' (2023), {{doi|10.1080/00393274.2023.2228845}}. [85] => [86] => {{cite book |last1=SAUSSURE |first1=Ferdinand de |title=Writings in general linguistics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqHK8vawv68C |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=118 |date=2006|isbn=9780199261444 |access-date=21 March 2020}} [87] => [88] => {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JewJCYZlYV8C&pg=PA9 |title=Textual Scholarship: An Introduction |first=D. C. |last=Greetham |publisher=Garland Publishing |year=1994 |isbn=9780815317913 |access-date=2011-07-16}} [89] => [90] => [[Richard Utz|Utz, Richard]]. "Them Philologists: Philological Practices and Their Discontents from Nietzsche to Cerquiglini." ''The Year's Work in Medievalism'' 26 (2011): 4–12. [91] => [92] => }} [93] => [94] => == External links == [95] => {{wiktionary}} [96] => {{wikiquote}} [97] => {{commons category|Philology}} [98] => * [http://ruthenia.ru/tiutcheviana/search/en/metlit.html Philology in Runet]—(A special web search through the philological sites of [[Runet]]) [99] => * [[v: Topic:German philology]] [100] => * [http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Culture/coglit.html CogLit: Literature and Cognitive Linguistics] [101] => * [https://personal.unizar.es/garciala/bibliography.html A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism, and Philology (ed. José Ángel García Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain)] [102] => {{Historiography}}{{Authority control}} [103] => [104] => [[Category:Philology| ]] [105] => [[Category:Academic disciplines]] [106] => [[Category:Historical linguistics]] [107] => [[Category:Writing]] [108] => [[Category:Textual scholarship]] [] => )
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Philology

Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary criticism, history, and linguistics. Its primary concern is the reconstruction of the historical development of languages and their relationship with one another, as well as the analysis and interpretation of texts in various languages.

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Its primary concern is the reconstruction of the historical development of languages and their relationship with one another, as well as the analysis and interpretation of texts in various languages. Philology encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including comparative linguistics, textual criticism, historical linguistics, and etymology. Through the study of ancient manuscripts and inscriptions, philologists seek to understand the cultural, social, and historical context of a language and its literature. This field has had a significant impact on our knowledge of the development and evolution of languages, the transmission of texts, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

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