Eduard Rudolf Thurneysen (14 March 1857 – 9 August 1940) was a Swiss linguist and

Celticist Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history ...

Biography

Born in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Thurneysen studied classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

in Basel,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. His teachers included

Ernst Windisch Ernst Wilhelm Oskar Windisch (4 September 1844, Dresden30 October 1918, Leipzig) was a German classical philologist and comparative linguist who specialised in Sanskrit, Celtic and Indo-European studies. In his student days at the University o ...

and

Heinrich Zimmer Heinrich Robert Zimmer (6 December 1890 – 20 March 1943) was a German Indologist and linguist, as well as a historian of South Asian art, most known for his works, ''Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization'' and ''Philosophies of Indi ...

. He received his

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

(approximating to a doctorate) in 1879 and his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

, in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and the

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

, followed at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

in 1882. From 1885 to 1887 he taught Latin at Jena, then taking up the Chair of Comparative Philology at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

where he replaced

Karl Brugmann Friedrich Karl Brugmann (; 16 March 1849 – 29 June 1919) was a German linguist. He is noted for his work in Indo-European linguistics. Biography Friedrich Karl Brugman was born in Wiesbaden to a middle-class family in 1849. He was educated a ...

, a renowned expert in

Indo-European studies Indo-European studies () is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical p ...

. In 1896, he posited Thurneysen's law, a proposed sound law concerning the alternation of voiced and voiceless fricatives in certain affixes in Gothic; it was later published in 1898. In 1909 Thurneysen published his , translated into English as ''A Grammar of Old Irish'' by D. A. Binchy and

Osborn Bergin Osborn Joseph BerginOsborn Ó hAimhirgín (26 November 1873 – 6 October 1950) was an Irish scholar of the Irish language and early Irish literature, who discovered what is now known as Bergin's law. Biography Bergin was born in Cork, sixth ...

, and still in print as of 2006. A version in Welsh was produced by Melville Richards and published by Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru (University of Wales Press) in 1935 under the title ''Llawlyfr Hen Wyddeleg''.Richards, M.R. (1935). Llawlyfr Hen Wyddeleg. Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru/ Cardiff: University of Wales Press. In 1913 he moved to the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. It is in this period that Thurneysen has been called the greatest living authority on

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

. He retired in 1923 and died in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

in 1940. The ''Rudolf Thurneysen Memorial Lecture'' (), given at Bonn, is named in his honour.

Select bibliography

* . Leipzig 1879. * . Halle 1884. * . Halle 1885. * 1887. * Halle 1892. * . Berlin 1901. * . Freiburg 1905. * , vol. 1: ; vol. 2: . Heidelberg 1909. ** ''A Grammar of Old Irish''. Revised and enlarged, with supplement. Translated by D. A. Binchy & Osborn Bergin. Dublin: School of Celtic Studies,

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

, 1975 (1st edn. 1946; reprint 2003). ** ''Old Irish Reader''. Translated by D. A. Binchy & Osborn Bergin. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1949 (reprints 1975, 1981). * . Halle 1921. * . Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1986 (reprint 2004).

References

External links

Thurneysen-Archiv der Keltologie Bonn

at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

'
CELT project

at

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CELT project
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurneysen, Rudolf 1857 births 1940 deaths Linguists from Switzerland Celtic studies scholars Academic staff of the University of Bonn Oghamologists Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America