On M. Mayrhofer's Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen

Bibliographic Data

ID2811164
AuthorsPaul Thieme (corresponding author)
Year1994
Volume57
Issue2
Pages321-328
Publication date1994-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0041977x00024885
OpenAlexW2160790688
LanguageDE
Citations received19

Immediately after finishing his Kurzgefaβtes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen (KEWA), M. Mayrhofer had the very commendable courage to start work on an Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen (EWA), of which the first 11 fascicles now (Autumn 1992) lie before us. It is not, as the author rightly insists,'a new (and improved) edition' of KEWA, but a renewed attempt in its own rights. It is an attempt to produce 'an etymological dictionary of' a big corpus language (i.e. of Sanskrit)' in 'a practicable and finishable form', that is: an etymological dictionary such as could be brought to completion 'by a single scholar within his life time',-provided this scholar would have the industry and tenacious dedication of a Mayrhofer, we should like to add. Even in the close atmosphere of such a somewhat constraining qualification, Mayrhofer aims high: he thinks of -an etymological dictionary approaching the fulfilment of demands of an ideal order-. The differences between the former work and the one recently begun, already clearly recognizable, are many and conspicuous. The changes introduced are mostly-not always, as is only to be expected-distinct improvements. One of the most important changes is highly welcome: the conscientious- reference to the first occurrence of each word in Sanskrit literature. The attribute 'kurzgefaβt' does not appear in the title. Even the KEWA was not actually 'conciseမ: it was so in comparison only with the planned Vergleichendes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen by W. Wüst

Courage · Epistemology · Ideal (ethics) · Linguistics · Order (exchange) · Sanskrit · Theology · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub