Dirk Christiaan Hesseling

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DC Hesseling

Dirk Christiaan Hesseling (born July 15, 1859 in Amsterdam ; † April 6, 1941 in Wassenaar ) was a Dutch classical philologist , Byzantinist and Neo-Graecist as well as linguist and as such a pioneer of Creole studies .

Live and act

Hesseling came from a wealthy merchant family and first attended a business school. However, his broad interests led him to study Classical Philology at the University of Leiden in 1878 . There he received his doctorate in 1886 with an archaeologically oriented dissertation De usu coronarum apud Graecos ( On the use of wreaths among the Greeks ) with Carel Gabriel Cobet . He then got a job as a teacher at a grammar school in Delft , which he held for eight years. On August 12, 1886, Hesseling married Anna Hendrika Salverda de Grave in 's Gravenhage , with whom he had two children.

After a trip to Greece and reading Jean Psichari's extremely demotizing travel description Meine Reise ( Το ταξίδι μου , 1888), he decided to give up teaching in Delft to devote himself entirely to science. In 1890 he went to Paris with his family to study modern Greek language and literature with Émile Legrand at the École des langues orientales and Jean Psychari at the École des hautes études . One of his fellow students at this time was Hubert Pernot , about a decade younger than him , with whom he would later work on various occasions. From 1893 he was a private lecturer and from 1907 to 1929 buitengewoon hoogleraar (associate professor) for Byzantine and modern Greek literature in Leiden. This makes Hesseling the founder of Neo-Greek Studies in the Netherlands (he himself saw Evangelinos A. Sophocles as the founder of Neo-Greek Studies in general). The title of his inaugural lecture was program: De Betekenis van het Nieuwgrieks voor de geschiedenis der Griekse taal en der Griekse letterkunde ( The importance of modern Greek for the history of the Greek language and Greek literary studies ). This gave him the first chair in Neo-Greek Studies in the Netherlands. Since 1902, Hesseling was a member of the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam and the Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde te Leiden , where he was involved in the editing of the Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde . In 1929 he retired. The successor to the chair was Sophia Antoniadis . After his retirement he moved to Wassenaar near Leiden.

Research priorities

Hesseling's scientific interests develop in two directions: on the one hand in the direction of the post-classical, Byzantine and modern Greek language, literature and culture and on the other hand, based on the development of classical Greek to modern Greek, in the direction of the development of the spoken language, the Language change and the process of creolization .

In the field of literature, his history of modern Greek literature was groundbreaking. It was based on various studies, editions and translations of authors and texts such as the Digenis Akritas , the mystery play The Sacrifice of Abraham , the Prodromika of Theodoros Prodromos , the Byzantine Achilles , the Moirologies , the Old ( Septuagint ) and New Testament . There are also ethnological works such as the study of the myth of the underworld ferryman Charon as well as overarching cultural studies on Byzantine civilization.

However, Hesseling's work in the linguistic field was particularly groundbreaking and, probably because it was mostly written in Dutch , it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that linguistics took full notice. Based on the question of whether the change from ancient to modern Greek was a further development from a single dialect (the Attic ) or a mixture of different influences (a question that he asked himself in his study of the history of the language on the infinitive in Greek), his interest grew in a comparative approach to the problem of a general theory of language change. Unlike his friend and colleague Hubert Pernot, Hesseling did not use experimental methods of linguistics.

An obvious example for him was the development of Dutch to Afrikaans in South Africa . In his work Het Afrikaans he developed the now outdated theory, according to which Afrikaans was created by a process of creolization from the Malay Portuguese of the slaves who had come to the Cape between 1658 and 1685 ; to the accusation of making Afrikaans a Creole language , Hesseling replied that it was precisely the contact of the superiors with the motherland that had contained this process. The parallel to Koine ization of Greek and developing a Diglossia of high - and common language is identified. Hesseling obviously favored universalistic and developmental approaches over substratial theories. The development of creole languages ​​was due to the suddenness of language contact and the fact that the speakers are generally adults and can no longer learn a new language like children.

In the course of these investigations, Hesseling came across the studies of the Romanist Hugo Schuchardt , published since the 1880s, on the Creole languages based on Romance languages , and extended his own studies to the Dutch of the Deense Antilles and Ceylon and even French in Canada and that in Spanish based Papiamento spoken on the ABC islands of the Caribbean . In this connection he took up a letter contact with Schuchardt, which should develop into an extensive scientific exchange, and even encouraged him to publish a dictionary of the Saramaccaan . He was also in correspondence with the linguist and Creolist John E. Reinecke (1904–1982). It is precisely because of his own theories that Hesseling is one of the most important pioneers of Creolism today .

In the field of standard Dutch, Hesseling was a co-founder of the Association for the Simplification of Dutch Orthography ( Vereniging tot vereenvoudiging van onze schrijftaal ). In addition to suggestions for orthography , which have found their way into the modern spelling of Dutch, Hesseling wrote numerous other small papers on the Dutch language.

Fonts (selection)

Font directory

  • Bibliography of the written van DC Hesseling, oud-hoogleraar te Leiden. Printed in opdracht van zijn vrienden en Leerlingen ter Lageheid van zijn tachtigste boortedag 1859 - 15 July - 1939 . HD Tjeenk Willink & Zoon, Haarlem 1939, 32 pp.

On Greek, Byzantine and Neo-Greek studies

Monographs

  • De usu coronarum apud Graecos capita selecta . Proefschrift Leiden, EJ Brill, Leiden 1886.
  • Istambol . E. Leroux, Paris 1890.
  • Essai Historique sur l'Infinitif Grec . In: Études de philologie neo-grecque. Recherches sur le développement historique du grec publiées par Jean Psichari. É. Bouillon, Paris 1892, 1-44 (online) .
  • On Waxen Tablets with Fables of Babrius (Tabulae ceratae Assendelftianae) , in: Journal of Hellenic Studies 13, 1892-1893, 293-314.
  • Charos. A contribution to the knowledge of the modern Greek popular belief . SC Van Doesburgh, Leiden 1897.
  • Le livre de Jonas . In: Byzantine magazine 10.1, 1901, 208–217. - (About a modern Greek translation of the Book of Jonah )
  • Byzantium. Studies over onze beschaving na de stichting van Constantinople. HD Tjeenk Willink & zoon, Haarlem 1902.
    • French translation: Essai sur la civilization byzantine. Traduction française autorisée par l'auteur avec préface par Gustave Schlumberger . A. Picard, Paris 1907.
  • Les mots maritimes empruntés par le grec aux langues romanes. J. Müller, Amsterdam 1903.
  • De Betekenis van het Nieuwgrieks voor de geschiedenis der Griekse taal en der Griekse letterkunde. Speech uitgesproken bij het aanvaarden van het ambt van buitengewoon hoogleraar te Leiden op 6 maart 1907. - (Inaugural lecture)
  • Uit Byzantium en Hellas. HD Tjeenk Willink & zoon, Haarlem 1911.
  • Le Roman de Digénis Akritas d'après le ms. de Madrid , in: Λαογραφία 3 (1911-1912) 537-604.
  • Alcestis en de folkspoëzie . Johannes Müller, Amsterdam 1912.
  • Le roman de Phlorios et Platzia Phlore . Joh.Müller, Amsterdam 1917.
  • Enkele opmerkingen over Nieuwgriekse lijkzangen. Joh. Müller, Amsterdam 1918. - (on the moirologies)
  • with Hubert Pernot: Erasme et les origines de la prononciation erasmienne . Leroux, Paris 1919.
  • Geschiedenis der nieuwgriekse letterkunde . EF Bon, Haarlem 1921. - (Translation into Greek and French)
    • French translation: Histoire de la littérature grecque modern. Traduite du néerlandais by Nicolette Pernot . Les Belles Lettres, Paris 1924 (Collection de l'Institut Néo-Hellénique, vol. 1).
  • Bezwaren en gevaren bij het vertalen van het Nieuwe Testament , in: Neophilologus 10.1, 1925, 213-223.
  • Uit Hellas' heden en verleden. HD Tjeenk Willink & zoon, Haarlem 1927.
  • Het Perfectum in het postklassieke Grieks. Overblijfsels in de taal van heden . Amsterdam, 1928 (Mededeelingen of the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, afdeeling letterkunde. Deel 65, series A, 6) online (PDF; 9.5 MB)
  • Foreword to: Kostes Palamas: A man's death . Translated by AE Phoutrides . With a foreword by DC Hesseling. Hestia, Athens 1934.

Text editions and translations

  • Les cinq livres de la loi (le Pentateuque). Traduction en néo-grec publiée en caractères hébraïques à Constantinople en 1547, transcrite et accompagnée d'une introduction, d'un glossaire et d'un facsimile. SC van Doesburgh, Leiden 1897.
  • (Ed., With Hubert Pernot): Poèmes Prodromiques en grec vulgaire . J. Müller, Amsterdam 1910 (negotiating of the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, Afdeeling Letterkunde, Nieuwe reeks, deel 11, no.1), ND M. Sendet, Wiesbaden 1968.
  • (Ed., With Hubert Pernot): Ερωτοπαίγνια - Chansons d'amour. Publiées d'après un manuscrit du XVe siècle avec une traduction, une étude critique sur les Ekatologa (Chanson des cent mots), des observations grammaticales et un index. H. Welter, Paris 1913 (Bibliothèque grecque vulgaire, t. X), online
  • Bloemlezing uit het 'Pratum spirituale' van Johannes Moschus . Van inleiding en aantekeningen voorzien door DC Hesseling. GJA Ruys, Utrecht 1916.
  • L'Achilléide byzantine publiée avec une introduction. Joh. Müller, Amsterdam 1919.
  • Bitsentzos Kornaros: Het offer van Abraham. Een Grieks mysteriespel in twee bedrijven geschreven op Crete in de XVIe eeuw . Vertaald door DC Hesseling. HD Tjeenk Willink, Haarlem 1919. - (A mystery play that was performed twice with success in Hesseling's translation)
  • De Kolleges van Epictetus. Naar aanteekeningen van Flavius ​​Arrianus. Vertaald door DC Hesseling. HD Tjeenk Willink, Haarlem 1931.

Chrestomathy

  • with Hubert Pernot: Chrestomathie néo-hellenique . Société d'édition "Les Belles lettres", Paris 1925.

To creolism

  • Het Hollandsch in Zuid-Afrika , in: De Gids 61, 1897, 138–162.
  • Het Afrikaansch. Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Nederlandsche taal in Zuid-Afrika . EJ Brill, Leiden 1899, 2nd edition 1923.
  • Het Negerhollands of the Deense Antilles. Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Nederlandse taal in America . Sijthoff, Leiden 1905, 2nd edition 1929.
  • On the origin and formation of creoles: A miscellany of articles by DC Hesseling. Ed. and trans. by TL Markey and Paul T. Roberge. Karoma Publishers 1979. - Review by Ellen Woolford, in: Language in Society 10.1, 1981, 128-132, (online) ; Salikoko S. Mufwene, in: Caribbean Journal of Education 8, 1981, 230-237.

literature

  • Sofia Antoniadis: In memoriam DC Hesseling , in: De Gids 106, 1942.
  • Hans den Beste: The Hesseling Myth of a South African Malayo-Portuguese , in: Ton van der Wouden (Ed.), Roots of Afrikaans. Selected Writings of Hans the Best. John Benjamin Publishing, Amsterdam 2012 (Creole Language Library, Vol. 44), pp. 294–301 (online)
  • Gerard Hendrik Blanken , Jean Jacques Salverda de Grave, in: Neophilologus 26, 1941, 241–246.
  • Gerard Hendrik Blanken: Prof. Dr. DC Hesseling as Neograecus en Byzantinist , in: Neophilologus 26, 1941, 246-255
  • Gerard Hendrik Blanken: Prof. Dr. DC Hesseling, July 15, 1859 - April 6, 1941 , in: Jaarboekje voor Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde van Leiden en Rijnland 34, 1942, 46–50, (online) (PDF; 11.0 MB)
  • Ian Hancock, Ana Deumert: History of Research on Pidgins and Creoles - Geschichte der Pidgin- und Kreolforschung , in: Ulrich Ammon, Norbert Dittmar, Klaus J. Mattheier, Peter Trudgill (eds.): Sociolinguistics - Soziolinguistik. An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society - An international handbook on the science of language and society. Completely revised and extended edition - 2nd, completely revised and extended edition. Volume 1/1. Volume, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2004, 806–817, there 808–809: Hugo Schuchardt and Dirk Hesseling , (online)
  • Guus Meijer, Pieter Muysken: On the beginnings of pidgin and creole studies: Schuchardt and Hesseling , in: Albert Valdman (Ed.), Pidgin and creole linguistics. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1977, 21-45.
  • Jan Noordegraaf: Hesseling, Dirk Christiaan (1859-1941) , in: RE Asher (Ed.): The encyclopedia of language and linguistics. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1994, 2nd edition 2006, 288–289, (incomplete excerpt online) (PDF; 348 kB). - (Presentation of Hesseling's theories on the development of the Creole languages ​​from a linguistic perspective)
  • Jan Noordegraaf: Hesseling honderd jaar later. Over postkoloniale linguïstiek in Nederland , in: Theo Janssen, Jan Noordegraaf (eds.), Honderd jaar taalwetenschap. Articles on aangeboden aan Saskia Daalder bij hair afscheid van de Vrije Universiteit . Amsterdam, Stichting Neerlandistiek VU & Münster, Nodus Publications 2013, 125–138, (online) .
  • Jan Noordegraaf: Verre related. DC Hesseling over taal en taalverandering , in: Freek Van de Velde, Hans Smessaert, Frank Van Eynde, Sara Verbrugge (eds.), Patroon en argument. A dubbelfeestbundel bij het emeritaat van William van Belle en Joop van der Horst . Universitaire Pers, Leuven 2014, 523-535, (online) .
  • Hubert Pernot: Notice biographique sur DC Hesseling (15 juillet 1859 - 6 avril 1941) , in: Jaarboek Huygens Instituut - Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen , 1940–1941, 208–213, (online) (PDF; 499 kB)
  • Jean Jacques Salverda de Grave: Derk Christiaan Hesseling (Amsterdam, July 15 - Leiden, April 6, 1941) , in: Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde 1946, 81–87 (online) , (further online version) (PDF; 1 , 5 MB)
  • Elisabeth Steiner: 'Don't you think you're bothering me with your questions; it is my real pleasure to be of some use to you in this matter '. The correspondence between Schuchardt and Hesseling. In: Grazer Linguistic Studies 78, 2012, 101–127.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Homepage of the Modern Greek Department at Harvard University : Hesseling called Sophocles the first neo-Greekist.
  2. ↑ Hans Den Beste: The Hesseling Myth of a South African Malayo-Portuguese , in: Ton van der Wouden (Ed.): Roots of Afrikaans. Selected Writings of Hans Den Beste . John Benjamin Publishing, Amsterdam 2012, pp. 294-301.
  3. ↑ The correspondence between Hesseling and Schuchardt is kept in Graz ; see. Jan Noordegraaf: Hesseling, Dirk Christiaan (1859-1941) , in: RE Asher (Ed.): The encyclopedia of language and linguistics. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1994, 2nd edition 2006, 288; Elisabeth Steiner: 'Don't you think you're bothering me with your questions; it is my real pleasure to be of some use to you in this matter '. The correspondence between Schuchardt and Hesseling. In: Grazer Linguistic Studies 78, 2012, 101–127.
personal data
SURNAME Hesseling, Dirk Christiaan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch neo-Greekist, Byzantine scholar and linguist
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 1941
Place of death Wassenaar