Johann Baptist Hofmann

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Johann Baptist Hofmann (born February 11, 1886 in Neukenroth ; † July 27, 1954 in Munich ) was a German classical philologist , didactic specialist in ancient languages ​​and linguist .

Life

Born in Neukenroth in Upper Franconia , Hofmann attended grammar school in Bamberg and then studied classical philology and comparative linguistics in Munich from 1904 to 1909 . He was mainly influenced by his teachers, the classical philologist Friedrich Vollmer and the Indo-Germanist Wilhelm Streitberg . In 1910, with a study of De verbis quae in prisca Latinitate exstant deponentibus at Vollmer, he became a Dr. phil. PhD.

Vollmer then brought him to work at the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae . In 1927 Hofmann was appointed editor of the project. Due to his thorough knowledge of the Italian languages, Hofmann not only wrote numerous lemmas, but also provided the etymological explanations for them. In his decades of work for the thesaurus, the work for the lemma "et", which forms the most detailed article with over 100,000 references, was particularly extensive.

In addition, he took over the reporting on the research on the Italian languages ​​in the Indo-European Yearbook and came out with his investigations on Late and Vulgar Latin. In 1926 he published a description of the Latin colloquial language , for which he not only used ancient texts, but also took into account the later developments in the Romance languages ​​that were gradually emerging.

Research on Latin syntax and style

As in the '20s , a new edition of the scientific Latin grammar of Friedrich pride and Joseph Hermann lard should be made for a re-release, Hofmann was commissioned for this to take over a representation of the Latin syntax and style. Instead of a revision, however, his work was a new, independent work, which also took into account ancient Latin language findings and the change in language in late antiquity . The revision of the Latin theory of forms by Stolz / Schmalz by Manu Leumann also led to a significantly expanded grammatical representation. In 1928 these representations were published as the first (theory of forms) and second (syntax and stylistics) part volume as the second section of the Handbook of Classical Studies . The grammar , which has since been revised by Anton Szantyr and named after its authors as "Leumann-Hofmann-Szantyr", is a standard work at German universities to this day.

Hofmann's revision of Alois Walde's Latin etymological dictionary also led to an independent two-volume work that offered an overview of the development of the Latin vocabulary. The first volume was published in 1938, the second in 1954 - shortly before Hofmann's death.

In addition, Hofmann and his friend and long-time colleague Hans Rubenbauer , with whom he had started work on the thesaurus in 1909 , wrote the Latin school grammar in 1929 , which because of its systematics and its innovations (including example sentences only from original texts as well as quantity descriptions and detailed appendices on stylistics and Metrik) is still used today as a standard work not only in high schools but also in universities. It is now in the 12th edition, revised by Rolf Heine .

In the last years of his life, Hofmann's health deteriorated. He suffered from hearing impairment at an early age and later from deafness and severe walking difficulties. He died on July 27, 1954 at the age of 68 in Munich.

Honors

In 1948 Hofmann was made a full member of the philological-historical class of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences for his services to science . In 1929 he also received the silver Leibniz Medal from the Berlin Academy of Sciences, which also elected him a corresponding member.

Works (selection)

  • 1926 Latin colloquial language . Carl Winter, Heidelberg.
  • 1929 Latin school grammar on a linguistic basis (with Hans Rubenbauer). R. Oldenbourg, Munich.
  • 1948 Concise Latin grammar (with Hans Rubenbauer). Leibniz, Munich.
  • 1950 Dictionary of grammatical and metrical terminology (together with Hans Rubenbauer). Carl Winter, Heidelberg.
  • 1950 Etymological Dictionary of Greek . R. Oldenbourg, Munich; Reprint there in 1966.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ I: Manu Leumann: Latin phonetics and forms. (5th edition) Munich 1926; Reprint there in 1963; Revision 1977; II: Latin syntax and style. Founded by JB Hofmann, continued by Anton Szantyr, Munich 1965; Reprinted there in 1972 (= Handbook of Classical Studies , Section II, Part 2, I – II).
personal data
SURNAME Hofmann, Johann Baptist
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German classical philologist and linguist
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Neukenroth
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1954
Place of death Munich