John Pickering (Linguist)

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John Pickering, painting by Alvan Clark (ca.1840)

John Pickering (born February 7, 1777 in Salem , Massachusetts , † May 5, 1846 in Boston , Massachusetts) was an American lawyer , politician and linguist . He is considered the founder of comparative linguistics in the United States.

Live and act

John Pickering was a son of the politician and later US Secretary of State Timothy Pickering (1745-1829). He graduated from Harvard University in 1796 and then studied law with Edward Tilghman in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Pickering worked from 1797 as secretary for the American ambassador to Portugal , William L. Smith , then from 1799 to 1801 for the American ambassador to the Kingdom of Great Britain , Rufus King .

Pickering returned to the United States in 1801 and was admitted to the Salem , Massachusetts bar. In 1827 he moved to Boston and was 1829-1846 General Counsel of the city (City Solicitor) . He was a member of the Senate as well as the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Executive Council of Massachusetts . From 1818 to 1824 he was a member of the board of directors (Board of Overseers) of Harvard University, 1833 a commission for the reform of the state system of Massachusetts.

In addition to his legal and political work, Pickering dealt intensively with philology . He was considered an expert in numerous languages: in addition to ancient Greek and Latin for almost all modern languages ​​in Europe, but also for various Asian languages ​​and scripts as well as the Indian languages ​​of America and Polynesian languages . Among other things, he published a dictionary of American English , a Greek-English dictionary that has been published several times, as well as numerous linguistic and legal journal articles, including the proposal for a standardized spelling of the Indian languages, which can be considered the forerunner of a phonetic alphabet .

In 1806 Pickering turned down a professorship for Hebrew language at Harvard University, later a professorship for Greek literature at Harvard or the position of provost at the University of Pennsylvania .

In 1810 Pickering was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , of which he was president from 1839 to 1846, and in 1820 to the American Philosophical Society . He held honorary doctorates from Bowdoin College (1822) and Harvard University (1835). The mineral pickeringite is named after him ( Augustus A. Hayes , 1844).

John Pickering was married to Sarah White, with whom he had three children. His grave is in Broad Street Cemetery in Salem.

literature

  • John Pickering. In: Evert Augustus Duyckinck, George Long Duyckinck: Cyclopaedia of American Literature: Embracing Personal and Critical Notices of Authors, and Selections from Their Writings. From the Earliest Period to the Present Day. New York, Scribner, 1856.
  • Pickering, John. In: Francis Samuel Drake: Dictionary of American Biography: Including Men of the Time; Containing Nearly Ten Thousand Notices of Persons of Both Sexes, of Native and Foreign Birth, Who Have Been Remarkable, or Prominently Connected with the Arts, Sciences, Literature, Politics, or History of the American Continent. Boston, Osgood, 1870.
  • Pickering, John. In: The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: being the History of the United States. New York, White, 1898.
  • Pickering, John. In: JS Chamberlain: Universities and Their Sons: History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities, with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Boston, Herndon, 1898-1900.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Pickering, John (1777-1846). In: nhhistory.org. New Hampshire Historical Society, accessed December 30, 2018 .
  2. Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter P. (PDF; 649 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved December 29, 2018 .
  3. Historical Governance. In: amacad.org. American Academy of Arts and Sciences , accessed December 29, 2018 .
  4. John Pickering. In: amphilsoc.org. American Philosophical Society , accessed December 29, 2018 .
  5. Pickeringite. In: mindat.org. Retrieved December 30, 2018 .