Alf Torp
Alf Torp (born September 27, 1853 in Stryn , Sogn og Fjordane , † September 26, 1916 in Kristiania ) was a Norwegian philologist and writer . Torp became known for his work on Indo-European and Nordic languages and his epigraphic contributions to deciphering ancient inscriptions .
life and work
Alf Torp became a student at the Bergen Cathedral School (Bergen Katedralskole) in 1871 and took a linguistic-historical teacher training course for Latin and Greek , Norwegian and German . In 1877 he graduated with the academic degree of Candidatus philologiae , an entry-level qualification for an academic teaching career. From 1878 to 1880 he studied with the well-known philologist Georg Curtius in Leipzig . Curtius was an important representative of comparative linguistics , but was skeptical of the young grammarians of the Leipzig School . Torp, on the other hand, took over parts of their methodical approach from the young grammarians. In their opinion, changes in language take place without exception on the basis of natural sound laws ( invariance of the sound laws ) . In 1880 Torp received his doctorate in Leipzig with a dissertation on the flexion of the Pali in its relationship to Sanskrit . In the dissertation, Torp used key data to test the young grammatical model, demonstrating his talent for identifying relevant data and incorporating it into his approaches.
From 1880 to 1882 Torp taught at the Hauges Minde School in Kristiania, and from 1882 at the Gjertsens School. In the same year he received a university assistant scholarship for Sanskrit and comparative linguistics. From 1883 he taught at the University of Kristiania. Between 1885 and 1886 he brought out a translation of Sophocles' Antigone into Norwegian. In 1894 he received an extraordinary professorship for Sanskrit and comparative linguistics. In 1896 he published a collection of self-written poems in Latin.
From 1894 Torp researched ancient inscriptions from the Mediterranean and Nordic languages. Between 1894 and 1907 he published about 20 essays on Etruscan , Old Frankish , Venetian , Lydian and Hittite inscriptions . When deciphering the inscriptions, he did not fall back on the etymology of other languages as usual , but combined directly on the basis of the inscriptions in order to make the content accessible. With this so-called “combinatorial approach” Torp was close to later structuralism .
Together with Hjalmar Falk (1859-1928), a Norwegian linguist and philologist specializing in German and Nordic studies , Torp wrote fundamental works on the Danish-Norwegian history of sounds (1898) and syntax (1900). Between 1901 and 1906 both published an etymological dictionary for Norwegian and Danish . In 1909 Torp brought out an Old Norse dictionary together with Marius Hægstad . Together explored with Falk Torp etymology of Germanic languages and published in 1909 to an extensive compendium , which in the Dictionary of Indo-European parent language of August Fick was taken. In 1912, Torp took part in an American archaeological expedition to Turkey as an epigraphist .
Torp's last major work was an etymological dictionary of the Norwegian language. With the exception of the letter U, he was able to complete this work during his lifetime. Torp was chairman of the Norwegian spelling committees directly from 1913. This committee had the task of organizing the planned for 1917 spelling reform. After the death of Alf Torp in 1916, Hjalmar Falk took over the chairmanship.
family
Alf Torp's parents were infantry captain Frederik Adrian Svenning Torp (1816–1869) and Gjerthrud Mathilde Ravn (1830–1876). Torp had three siblings, Halfdan Torp (1849–1888), Nanna Torp (1851–1868) and Hjalmar Torp (1856–1922). Hjalmar Torp was the father of the architects Leif Torp (1897–1991) and Ernst Torp (1900–1988), the founders of the architecture company Torp & Torp, which is well known in Norway. Alf Torp married on June 28, 1897 Jenny Marie Johnson (1873-1956), daughter of Jonas Johnson and Karen Olsdatter Ilhlag. With her he had two sons, Hjalmar Torp (1897–1951) and Alf Torp (1900–1960).
Memberships
- Member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences
- Member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences
- Member of the Royal Science and Literature Society in Gothenburg
- Member of the Accademia delle scienze dell′Istituto di Bologna
- Member of the Finnish-Ugric Society
Awards
- 1903: Fridtjof Nansen award for outstanding research, historical-philosophical class (Fridtjof Nansens belønning for Fremdragende forskning, historisk-filosofisk klasse) .
- 1905: First class knight of the Order of Saint Olav for his scientific merits.
Publications (selection)
- The inflection of the Pali in its relationship to Sanskrit , 1881
- Sophocles ′ Antigone metrisk oversat , 2 volumes, 1885–1886
- Contributions to the teaching of the genderless pronoun in the Indo-European languages , 1888
- Vowel and consonant stems , 1889
- Lycian Contributions , 3 volumes, 1888–1901
- Den græske nominalflexion sammenlignende Fremdstillet , 1890
- On the Phrygian inscriptions from Roman times , 1894
- under the pseudonym Aulus Turpilius: Poemata pauca, diktsamling , 1896
- To the Phrygian , 1896
- Indo-European research , 1897
- with Hjalmar Falk: Dansk-norskens lydhistorie , 1898
- with Hjalmar Falk: Dansk-norskens syntax i historisk Fremdstilling , 1900
- Etruscan monthly dates , 1902
- Etruscan contributions , 3 volumes, 1902–1906
- with Hjalmar Falk: Etymologisk ordbog over det norske og det danske sprog , 2 volumes, 1903-1906
- with Gustav Herrbig: Some newly found Etruscan inscriptions , 1904
- Comments on the Etruscan inscription by S. Maria di Capua , 1905
- with Marius Hægstad: Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding , 1909
- Gamalnorsk ordavleiding , 1909
- with Hjalmar Falk: Vocabulary of the Germanic language unit , 1909
- Nynorsk etymologisk ordbok , 1919
Web links
- Literature by and about Alf Torp in the catalog of the German National Library
- Alf Torp on the site of the Norsk biografisk leksikon
- Alf Torp on the page of the Norsk Forfatter Lexicon 1814–1880
- Alf Torp on the side of the store norske leksikon
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Torp, Alf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Norwegian philologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 27, 1853 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stryn |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 26, 1916 |
| Place of death | Kristiania |