Karl Hoffmann (26 February 1915 – 21 May 1996) was a German

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

who specialized in

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

and Indo-Iranian studies. He is most recognized for his achievements in his studies of

Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit was an ancient language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It is attested in the Vedas and related literature compiled over the period of the mid- 2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE. It was orally preser ...

, Avestan and Old Persian languages.

Biography

Early life

Karl Hoffmann was born the son of a railway official, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in Hof,

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

, German Empire. His family later moved to the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

capital of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, whence he remained for the duration of his childhood.

World War II

In 1934, Hoffmann began his education in Indo-European studies, which he continued until he was called in for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

at the start of World War II in 1939. Hoffmann took his leave from the war during 1941, just long enough to receive his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

for his unpublished dissertation, titled ''Die altindoarischen Wörter mit -ṇḍ- besonders im Ṛgveda''. Hoffmann was at the Russian front until 1943, after which he joined the

Indian Legion , image = Flag of the Indian Legion.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Flag of the Indian Legion , country = , allegiance = Adolf ...

(''Indische Legion''), together with other German Indologists, such as Paul Thieme and

Gustav Roth Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

After the war

Once World War II had ended in 1945, Hoffmann returned to Munich in

Occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...

, and was able to continue his academic work in Indo-Iranian studies. In 1951, he qualified as a university lecturer with his habilitation thesis, ''Der Injunktiv im Veda''. In 1952, Hoffmann moved to Saarbrücken,

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

(then under the

Saar Protectorate The Saar Protectorate (german: Saarprotektorat ; french: Protectorat de la Sarre) officially Saarland (french: Sarre) was a French protectorate separated from Germany; which was later opposed by the Soviet Union, one side occupying Germany lik ...

), where he taught Indo-European linguistics to his students at Saarland University. He continued teaching this course until 1955, when he accepted the chair of comparative linguistics at Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg. He was offered a position at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

in 1962, but refused, and thus remained in

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhab ...

until his retirement in 1983. His notable students include

Johanna Narten Johanna Narten (Hannover, 5 October 1930 – Uttenreuth, 15 July 2019), was a German Indo-Europeanist and Indo-Iranian linguist who discovered the reconstructed morphological category in Proto-Indo-European now known as the Narten present. She ...

, discoverer of the

Narten present.

Bibliography

*Hoffmann, Karl, ''Der Injunktiv im Veda: Eine synchronische Funktionsuntersuchung'' (1967), C. Winter. *Hoffmann, Karl, ''Aufsätze zur Indoiranistik'' (1975, 1976, 1992), Reichert. *Hoffmann, Karl; Narten, J., ''Der Sasanidische Archetypus: Untersuchungen zu Schreibung und Lautgestalt des Avestischen'' (1989), Wiesbaden. *Forssman, Bernhard; Hoffman, Karl, ''Avestische Laut- und Flexionslehre'' (1996), Innsbruck.

References

Michael Witzel Michael Witzel (born July 18, 1943) is a German-American philologist, comparative mythologist and Indologist. Witzel is the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University and the editor of the Harvard Oriental Series (volumes 50–80). Witz ...

, ''Karl Hoffmann (1915–1996)'', ''Indo-Iranian Journal'', Volume 40, Number 3 / August, 1997. *Johanna Narten
"Karl Hoffmann"
''

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...

''
photograph
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Karl 1915 births 1996 deaths People from Hof, Bavaria German Indologists Indo-Europeanists Linguists of Indo-European languages German male non-fiction writers