Carl August Friedrich Mahn (September 9, 1802 – January 27, 1887) was a German

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 as ...

and

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

teacher and researcher. Mahn was born in

Zellerfeld Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000. The City is the location of the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort ...

. In 1828 he became a foreign-language teacher in Berlin, but he gained note mainly for his investigation into

etymologies Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words an ...

. He published several books on the subject as well as contributing extensively to the etymologies in the 1864 edition of the English-language ''

Webster's Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

''. He also published several textbooks for learners of French, English, Italian, Latin, and ancient Greek, as well as works on a variety of other linguistic and literary subjects. He died in

Steglitz Steglitz () is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is a Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German . Steglitz was also a borough from 1920 to 2000. It contained th ...

in 1887.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahn, Carl August Friedrich 1802 births 1887 deaths German philologists Etymologists