Detlev Blanke (30 May 1941 – 20 August 2016) was a German Esperantist. He was an interlinguistics lecturer at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established ...

. He was one of Germany's most active

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

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 ...

s and was from 1991 to 2016 both the chair of the Gesellschaft für Interlinguistik ("Interlinguistics Society") and the editor of its newsletter, ''Interlinguistische Informationen''. He and his wife, Wera Blanke, were especially interested in the evolution of language, particularly in the development of

terminology Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wo ...

for the

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction ...

, Esperanto, and questions of

sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on language. It can overlap with the sociology of ...

. Blanke made a study of

Eugen Wüster Eugen Wüster (10 October 1898 – 29 March 1977) was an industrialist and terminologist. Career Wüster became enthusiastic about Esperanto when he was 15, soon coming to the fore as an Esperanto translator and as the author of various mono ...

's work toward common international terminology and international standardization.

Academic career

After completing his initial university studies he worked as a teacher of German and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, a ...

. He earned a doctorate from

in 1976 with his dissertation on comparative word construction of Esperanto and German. In 1985 he earned a second doctorate from Humboldt on constructed languages. (In the former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

such a second degree was known as "dissertation B", corresponding to the highest academic qualification of "

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

" awarded to full professors in many European countries.) In 1988 the university appointed him "Honorary Lecturer of Interlinguistics."

Esperanto activities

Having first taught himself Esperanto in 1957, he later became secretary (1968 through 1990) of the ''Centra Laborrondo de Esperanto-Amikoj'' ("Central Working Circle of Friends of Esperanto"), a government-sanctioned affiliate of

Cultural Association Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

(''Deutsche Kulturbund''). After 1981 the group became a part of the newly founded German Democratic Republic Esperanto Association (''Esperanto-Asocio de GDR'', GDREA). From 1970 to 1990 Prof. Blanke was also editor of the newsletter of those organizations, ''

Der Esperantist ''Der Esperantist'' (; ''The Esperantist'') was, from 1965 to 1990, the official newsletter of the East German Esperanto movement. After organizing the Esperanto movement in the former East Germany, under the aegis of the quasi-governmental Cult ...

''. In 1991 the Esperantists of the former

formally affiliated with the German Esperanto Association ''(Germana Esperanto-Asocio)'' which had previously operated only in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Works of Detlev Blanke

Original works in Esperanto

*Ĉu lingvopolitikon por Esperanto? *La "Enciklopedia vortaro" de Eugen Wüster *"Esperanto" aŭ "Internacia Lingvo (ILo)": kiel nomi la lingvon? *Esperanto kaj lingvistiko: sciencpolitikaj aspektoj *Esperanto kiel faklingvo: elekta bibliografio *Eugen Wüster, la planlingvoj kaj la "naturalisma skolo" *La gazeto "Völkerspiegel" *Kelkaj problemoj de la vortfarado de la germana lingvo kaj de Esperanto: Motivado de la signifo de Esperantaj vortoj *Konfronta komparo de Esperanto kaj la germana lingvo *Konfronta lingvistika komparo de etnolingvo kaj planlingvo *Lingvoplanado en planlingvo: La esperantologio, ĉu priskriba aŭ preskriba scienco? *La lingvoscienco kaj planlingvoj: Interlingvistiko kaj interlingvistikaj esploroj *La malnovaj lingvoj kaj la problemo de internacia monda helplingvo *Notoj (interview with the French linguist André Martinet) *Pazigrafioj: La Esperanto-movado kaj sciencaj esploroj *Planlingvaj projektoj kaj la planlingvo Esperanto: La antikvaj lingvoj kaj la problemo de internacia lingvo *Pri Esperanto kaj interlingvistikaj aranĝoj en germanaj universitatoj: kaj pri kelkaj lastatempaj spertoj el Humboldt-Universitato *Pri kio verkas esperantologoj kaj kie trovi iliajn publikaĵojn? *Pri la aktuala stato de interlingvistiko: kelkaj teoriaj kaj scienc-organizaj problemoj *Pri la "interna ideo" de Esperanto *Pri la leksikografio de kelkaj planlingvoj: tipologia kaj bibliografia skizo *Pri la stato de la internacia aplikado de Esperanto: Jubilea kongreso en Kopenhago *Pri la termino planlingvo *Pri la verbkonstruo en la germana lingvo kaj en Esperanto: kompara skizo *Resumo kaj rezultoj de disertacio *La rolo de la planlingvoj ĉe la evoluo de terminologi-sciencaj konceptoj de Eugen Wüster: omaĝe al la centa datreveno de la naskiĝo de Eugen Wüster

Translation into Esperanto

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

: Manifesto de la Komunista Partio

Original works in German

*Der Anteil der Arbeiter-Esperantisten bei der Entwicklung der deutsch-sowjetischen Freundschaft in der Zeit der Weimarer Republik *Einige methodologische Probleme der Geschichtsschreibung über GDREA *Esperanto als Sprache und Unterrichtsgegenstand *Esperanto in soziolinguistischer Sicht *''Esperanto und Wissenschaft. Zur Plansprachenproblematik'' Berlin: Kulturbund der DDR, 1982, 88 pp. (2nd expanded ed.. 1986) *Eugen Wüster und sein "Enzyklopädisches Wörterbuch Esperanto-Deutsch" *Fachkommunikation in Plansprachen *Das Glottonym 'Esperanto' als Metapher *Grundfragen der Entwicklung von Plansprachen - unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Esperanto *Interlinguistik in der DDR: eine Bilanz *Interlinguistik und Plansprachen *Internationale Kommunikation: die Möglichkeiten von Welthilfssprachen *"Internationale Plansprachen. Eine Einführung" in ''Sammlung Akademie-Verlag, issue 34''. Berlin, 1985, 408 pp., *''Interlinguistische Beiträge. Zum Wesen und zur Funktion internationaler Plansprachen.'' Sabine Fiedler, ed. Frankfurt: Peter Lang Verlag, 2006, 405 pp., *(with Till Dahlenburg): ''Konversationsbuch Deutsch-Esperanto.'' Leipzig: Enzyklopädie-Verlag, 1990, 210 pp. , (2nd expanded ed., 1998, Vienna) *Leibniz und die Lingua Universalis *Pasigraphien (Weltschriften): eine Skizze *"Plansprache und Nationalsprache. Einige Probleme der Wortbildung des Esperanto und des Deutschen in konfrontativer Darstellung" in ''Linguistische Studien'', Series A, No. 85, Berlin: GDR Academy of Sciences, 1981, 162 pp. (2nd ed., 1982) *Plansprachen als Fachsprachen *Plansprachen und europäische Sprachenpolitik *Plansprachige Wörterbücher

Translations into English

*International Planned Languages

References

External links

Gesellschaft für Interlinguistik (GIL)
(in German and English) *

' (in Esperanto) *

' (in Esperanto)
Works by and about Detlev Blanke
in th
Department of Planned Languages, Austrian National Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanke, Detlev 1941 births 2016 deaths People from Neumünster German Esperantists Translators to Esperanto Linguists from Germany Humboldt University of Berlin alumni 20th-century translators