Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek (8 March 1827 – 17 August 1875) 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. Lingu ...

. His work included ''A Comparative Grammar of South African Languages'' and his great project jointly executed with

Lucy Lloyd Lucy Catherine Lloyd (7 November 1834 – 31 August 1914) was the creator, along with Wilhelm Bleek, of the 19th-century archive of ǀXam and !Kung texts. Early life Lucy Catherine Lloyd was born in Norbury in England on 7 November 1834. H ...

: The Bleek and Lloyd Archive of ǀxam and !kun texts. A short form of this eventually reached press with ''

Specimens of Bushman Folklore ''Specimens of Bushman Folklore'' is a book by the linguist Wilhelm H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd, which was published in 1911. The book records eighty-seven legends, myths and other traditional stories of the ǀXam Bushmen in their now-extin ...

'', which

Laurens van der Post Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in J ...

drew on heavily.

Biography

Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

on 8 March 1827. He was the eldest son of

Friedrich Bleek Friedrich Bleek (4 July 1793, in Ahrensbök in Holstein (a village near Lübeck)27 February 1859, in Bonn), was a German Biblical scholar. Life At 16 Bleek's father sent him to the gymnasium at Lübeck, where he became so interested in ancient lang ...

, Professor of Theology at

Berlin University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

and then 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 ...

, and Augusta Charlotte Marianne Henriette Sethe. He graduated from the University of Bonn in 1851 with a doctorate in linguistics, after a period in Berlin where he went to study Hebrew and where he first became interested in

African languages The languages of Africa are divided into several major language families: * Niger–Congo or perhaps Atlantic–Congo languages (includes Bantu and non-Bantu, and possibly Mande and others) are spoken in West, Central, Southeast and Souther ...

. Bleek's thesis featured an attempt to link North African and

Khoikhoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

(or what were then called Hottentot) languages – the thinking at the time being that all African languages were connected. After graduating in Bonn, Bleek returned to Berlin and worked with a

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

, Dr Wilhelm K H Peters, editing vocabularies of East African languages. His interest in African languages was further developed during 1852 and 1853 by learning

Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and ...

from Professor

Karl Richard Lepsius Karl Richard Lepsius ( la, Carolus Richardius Lepsius) (23 December 181010 July 1884) was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist, linguist and modern archaeologist. He is widely known for his magnum opus '' Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopie ...

, whom he met in Berlin in 1852. Bleek was appointed official linguist to Dr William Balfour Baikie's

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesTshadda Expedition in 1854. Ill-health (a

tropical fever Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by f ...

) forced his return to England where he met

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, ...

and John William Colenso, the Anglican Bishop of Natal, who invited Bleek to join him in Natal in 1855 to help compile a Zulu grammar. After completing Colenso's project, Bleek travelled to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in 1856 to become Sir George Grey's official interpreter as well as to catalogue his private library. Grey had philological interests and was Bleek's patron during his time as Governor of the Cape. The two had a good professional and personal relationship based on an admiration that appears to have been mutual. Bleek was widely respected as a

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

, particularly in the Cape. While working for Grey he continued with his philological research and contributed to various publications during the late 1850s. Bleek requested examples of

African literature African literature is literature from Africa, either oral ("orature") or written in African and Afro-Asiatic languages. Examples of pre-colonial African literature can be traced back to at least the fourth century AD. The best-known is the '' K ...

from missionaries and travellers, such as the Revd W Kronlein who provided Bleek with Namaqua texts in 1861. In 1859 Bleek briefly returned to Europe in an effort to improve his poor health but returned to the Cape and his research soon after. In 1861 Bleek met his future wife, Jemima Lloyd, at the boarding house where he lived in Cape Town (run by a Mrs Roesch), while she was waiting for a passage to England, and they developed a relationship through correspondence. She returned to Cape Town from England the following year. Bleek married Jemima Lloyd on 22 November 1862. The Bleeks first lived at The Hill in Mowbray but moved in 1875 to

Charlton House Charlton House is a Jacobean building in Charlton, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. Originally it was a residence for a nobleman associated with the Stuart royal family. It later served as a wartime hospital, then ...

. Jemima's sister,

, joined the household, became his colleague, and carried on his work after his death. When Grey was appointed

Governor of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and l ...

, he presented his collection to the

National Library of South Africa The National Library of South Africa is the agency of the government of South Africa which maintains a national library of all published materials relating to the country. History In 1818, Lord Charles Somerset, the Cape Colony's first civil ...

on condition that Bleek be its

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

, a position he occupied from 1862 until his death in 1875. In addition to this work, Bleek supported himself and his family by writing regularly for '' Het Volksblad'' throughout the 1860s and publishing the first part of his ''A Comparative Grammar of South African Languages'' in London in 1862. The second part was also published in London in 1869 with the first chapter appearing in manuscript form in Cape Town in 1865. Unfortunately, much of Bleek's working life in the Cape, like that of his sister-in-law after him, was characterised by extreme financial hardship which made his research even more difficult to continue with.

San people (Bushmen)

Bleek's first contact with

San people The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zam ...

(Bushmen) was with prisoners at Robben Island and the Cape Town Gaol and House of Correction, in 1857. He conducted interviews with a few of these prisoners, which he used in later publications. These people all came from the

Burgersdorp Burgersdorp is a medium-sized town in Walter Sisulu in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. In 1869 a Theological Seminary was established here by the ''Gereformeerde Kerk'', but in 1905 it was move ...

and Colesberg regions and variations of one similar-sounding "Bushman" language. Bleek was particularly keen to learn more about this " Bushman" language and compare it to examples of "Bushman" vocabulary and language earlier noted by Hinrich Lichtenstein and obtained from missionaries at the turn of the 19th century. In 1863 resident magistrate Louis Anthing introduced the first ǀXam-speakers to Bleek. He brought three men to Cape Town from the Kenhardt district to stand trial for attacks on farmers (the prosecution was eventually waived by the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

). In 1866 two San prisoners from the Achterveldt near Calvinia were transferred from the Breakwater prison to the Cape Town prison, making it easier for Bleek to meet them. With their help, Bleek compiled a list of words and sentences and an alphabetical vocabulary. Most of these words and sentences were provided by Adam Kleinhardt (see Bleek I-1, UCT A1.4.1). In 1870 Bleek and

Lloyd Lloyd, Lloyd's, or Lloyds may refer to: People * Lloyd (name), a variation of the Welsh word ' or ', which means "grey" or "brown" ** List of people with given name Lloyd ** List of people with surname Lloyd * Lloyd (singer) (born 1986), America ...

, by now working together on the project to learn "Bushman" language and record personal narratives and folklore, became aware of the presence of a group of 28 ǀXam prisoners (San from the central interior of southern Africa) at the Breakwater Convict Station and received permission to relocate one prisoner to their home in Mowbray so as to learn his language. The prison chaplain, Revd Fisk, was in charge of the selection of this individual – a young man named , a!kunta. But because of his youth, , a!kunta was unfamiliar with much of his people's folklore and an older man named , , kabbo was then permitted to accompany him. , , kabbo became Bleek and Lloyd's first real teacher, a title by which he later regarded himself. Over time, members of , , kabbo's family and other families lived with Bleek and Lloyd in Mowbray, and were interviewed by them. Amongst the people interviewed by Bleek was !Kweiten-ta-Ken. Many of the , xam-speakers interviewed by Bleek and Lloyd were related to one another. Bleek and Lloyd learned and wrote down their language, first as lists of words and phrases and then as stories and narratives about their lives, history, folklore and remembered beliefs and customs. Bleek, along with Lloyd, made an effort to record as much anthropological and ethnographic information as possible. This included genealogies, places of origin, and the customs and daily life of the informants. Photographs and measurements (some as specified by

Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stori ...

's global

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

project, see Godby 1996) were also taken of all their informants in accordance with the norms of scientific research of the time in those fields. More intimate and personal painted portraits were also commissioned of some of the

xam Xam may refer to: * XAM, a storage standard * Xẩm, a type of Vietnamese folk music * ǀXam language, an extinct language of South Africa {{disambiguation ...

teachers. Although Bleek and

interviewed other individuals during 1875 and 1876 (Lloyd doing this alone after Bleek's death), most of their time was spent interviewing only six individual , xam contributors. Bleek wrote a series of reports on the language and the literature and folklore of the , xam-speakers he interviewed, which he sent to the Cape Secretary for Native Affairs. This was first in an attempt to gain funding to continue with his studies and then also to make Her Majesty's Colonial Government aware of the need to preserve San folklore as an important part of the nation's heritage and traditions. In this endeavour Bleek must surely have been influenced by Louis Anthing.

Death

Bleek died in Mowbray on 17 August 1875, aged 48, and was buried in Wynberg

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

cemetery in Cape Town along with his two infant children, who had died before him. His all-important work recording the , Xam language and literature was continued and expanded by

, fully supported by his wife Jemima. In his obituary in the South African Mail of 25 August 1875, he was lauded in the following terms: 'As a comparative philologist he stood in the foremost rank, and as an investigator and authority on the South African languages, he was without peer.

References

* * * * Part II published in 1869. * (Chiefly translated from original manuscripts in the library of His Excellency Sir

) * *''Über den Ursprung der Sprache.'' (Herausgegeben mit einem Vorwort von Dr.

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...

.) Weimar, H. Böhlau (1868) *''

.'' (by Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd) London, G. Allen (1911) *Otto H. Spohr: ''Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek, a bio-bibliographical sketch.'' Cape Town, University of Cape Town Libraries (1962) *Walter Köppe: ''Philologie im südlichen Afrika: Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek (1827–1875).'' Zeitschrift für Germanistik, Neue Folge 3 (1998) * Konrad Körner: ''Linguistics and evolution theory. (Three essays by August Schleicher, Ernst Haeckel and Wilhelm Bleek)'' Amsterdam-Philadelphia, John Benjamins Publishing Company (1983) *Deacon, J and Dowson, T. (eds) 1996. Voices from the Past. Johannesburg: Wits University Press * *Skotnes, Pippa (eds) 2007. Claim to the Country, the Archive of Lucy Lloyd and Wilheim Bleek. Johannesburg: Jacana Media. * *Bousman, Britt 2022 Lucy Lloyd and the University of Texas Copy of Bleek's "A Brief Account of Bushman Folk-Lore and Other Texts." The Digging Stick 39(2)5-8.

External links

Bleek and Lloyd Archive onlineMemory of the World – The Bleek CollectionSouth Africa's greatest storyteller
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleek, Wilhelm 1827 births 1875 deaths Anthropological linguists Cultural anthropologists German anthropologists History of South Africa Karoo Linguists from Germany Linguists from South Africa People from Berlin University of Bonn alumni Linguists of Khoisan languages

Biography

San people (Bushmen)

Death

See also

References

External links