Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics
Summary Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) was an outstanding mathematician and astronomer whose scientific writings – had they not been allowed to remain in manuscript – would long ago have earned for him an international esteem comparable with that of Galileo and Kepler. Only in recent decades has his sta...
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Language: | English |
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John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/hl.19.1.03sal http://www.jbe-platform.com/deliver/fulltext/hl.19.1.03sal.pdf |
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crjohnbenjaminsp:10.1075/hl.19.1.03sal 2024-06-09T07:38:10+00:00 Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics Salmon, Vivian 1992 http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/hl.19.1.03sal http://www.jbe-platform.com/deliver/fulltext/hl.19.1.03sal.pdf en eng John Benjamins Publishing Company Historiographia Linguistica volume 19, issue 1, page 25-56 ISSN 0302-5160 1569-9781 journal-article 1992 crjohnbenjaminsp https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.19.1.03sal 2024-05-15T13:26:39Z Summary Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) was an outstanding mathematician and astronomer whose scientific writings – had they not been allowed to remain in manuscript – would long ago have earned for him an international esteem comparable with that of Galileo and Kepler. Only in recent decades has his status been recognised by scientists, but not, so far, by linguists. Yet he was the first English traveller to North America known to have recorded an indigenous language, for which he devised a dictionary and a phonetic alphabet. He also recorded a large number of Algonkin words during his stay in North Carolina in 1585–86, some of which are found in the account of his travels which he published in 1588, more than fifty years before Roger Williams’s (1603?-1683) Key into the Language of America (1643), which has often been regarded as the first such work. The manuscripts of the dictionary and the phonetic alphabet were thought to be lost, until a few years ago a sketch of the phonetic alphabet was found; and in 1988 a detailed holograph copy came to light. The present paper, while describing this recent discovery, provides a brief survey of linguistic relationships between speakers of North Carolina Algonkin and English colonists between 1586 and the arrival of the Mayflower pilgrims in 1621, and traces Harriot’s influence on later 17th-century linguists. Article in Journal/Newspaper algonkin John Benjamins Publishing Company Traveller ENVELOPE(-48.533,-48.533,61.133,61.133) Historiographia Linguistica 19 1 25 56 |
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John Benjamins Publishing Company |
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crjohnbenjaminsp |
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English |
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Summary Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) was an outstanding mathematician and astronomer whose scientific writings – had they not been allowed to remain in manuscript – would long ago have earned for him an international esteem comparable with that of Galileo and Kepler. Only in recent decades has his status been recognised by scientists, but not, so far, by linguists. Yet he was the first English traveller to North America known to have recorded an indigenous language, for which he devised a dictionary and a phonetic alphabet. He also recorded a large number of Algonkin words during his stay in North Carolina in 1585–86, some of which are found in the account of his travels which he published in 1588, more than fifty years before Roger Williams’s (1603?-1683) Key into the Language of America (1643), which has often been regarded as the first such work. The manuscripts of the dictionary and the phonetic alphabet were thought to be lost, until a few years ago a sketch of the phonetic alphabet was found; and in 1988 a detailed holograph copy came to light. The present paper, while describing this recent discovery, provides a brief survey of linguistic relationships between speakers of North Carolina Algonkin and English colonists between 1586 and the arrival of the Mayflower pilgrims in 1621, and traces Harriot’s influence on later 17th-century linguists. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Salmon, Vivian |
spellingShingle |
Salmon, Vivian Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics |
author_facet |
Salmon, Vivian |
author_sort |
Salmon, Vivian |
title |
Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics |
title_short |
Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics |
title_full |
Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics |
title_fullStr |
Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thomas Harriot (1560–1621) and the English origins of Algonkian linguistics |
title_sort |
thomas harriot (1560–1621) and the english origins of algonkian linguistics |
publisher |
John Benjamins Publishing Company |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/hl.19.1.03sal http://www.jbe-platform.com/deliver/fulltext/hl.19.1.03sal.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-48.533,-48.533,61.133,61.133) |
geographic |
Traveller |
geographic_facet |
Traveller |
genre |
algonkin |
genre_facet |
algonkin |
op_source |
Historiographia Linguistica volume 19, issue 1, page 25-56 ISSN 0302-5160 1569-9781 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.19.1.03sal |
container_title |
Historiographia Linguistica |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
25 |
op_container_end_page |
56 |
_version_ |
1801370746003390464 |