11/03/2016

AntoineMeilletWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

AntoineMeillet
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

PaulJulesAntoineMeillet(French:[
twanmj]November11,
1866,Moulins,AllierSeptember21,1936,Chteaumeillant)
wasoneofthemostimportantFrenchlinguistsoftheearly20th
century.MeilletbeganhisstudiesattheSorbonne,wherehewas
influencedbyMichelBral,FerdinanddeSaussure,andthe
membersoftheAnneSociologique.In1890hewaspartofa
researchtriptotheCaucasus,wherehestudiedArmenian.After
hisreturn,sincedeSaussurehadgonebacktoGeneva,he
continuedtheseriesoflecturesoncomparativegrammarthatthe
Swisslinguisthadformerlygiven.
Meilletcompletedhisdoctorate,ResearchontheUseofthe
GenitiveAccusativeinOldSlavonic,in1897.In1902hetooka
chairinArmenianatthecoledeslanguesorientalesandtook
underhiswingHrachiaAdjarian,whowouldbecomethefounder
ofmodernArmeniandialectology.In1905hewaselectedtothe
CollgedeFrance,wherehetaughtonthehistoryandstructure
ofIndoEuropeanlanguages.Oneofhismostfamousquotesis
"anyonewishingtohearhowIndoEuropeansspokeshouldcome
andlistentoaLithuanianpeasant."Heworkedcloselywith
notedlinguistsPaulPelliotandRobertGauthiot.

MeilletAntoine

TodayMeilletisrememberedasthementorofanentiregenerationoflinguistsandphilologistswho
wouldbecomecentraltoFrenchlinguisticsinthetwentiethcentury,suchasmileBenveniste,Georges
Dumzil,andAndrMartinet.

Contents
1 AntoineMeilletandHomericStudies
2 Meilletandinternationallanguages
3 Publications
4 Seealso
5 Notes
6 Externallinks

AntoineMeilletandHomericStudies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Meillet

1/3

11/03/2016

AntoineMeilletWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

AttheSorbonne,beginningin1924,MeilletsupervisedMilmanParry.In1923,ayearbeforeMilman
ParrybeganhisstudieswithMeillet,Meilletwrotethefollowing(which,inthefirstofhistwoFrench
theses,Parryquotes):
Homericepicisentirelycomposedofformulaehandeddownfrompoettopoet.An
examinationofanypassagewillquicklyrevealthatitismadeupoflinesandfragmentsof
lineswhicharereproducedwordforwordinoneorseveralotherpassages.Eventhoselines
ofwhichthepartshappennottorecurinanyotherpassagehavethesameformulaic
character,anditisdoubtlesspurechancethattheyarenotattestedelsewhere.[1]
Meilletofferedtheopinionthatthispattern(thesocalledOralFormulaicHypothesis)mightbea
distinctivefeatureoforallytransmittedepics(whichtheIliadwassaidtobe).HesuggestedtoParrythat
heobservethemechanicsofalivingoraltraditiontoconfirmwhetherthissuggestionwasvalidhealso
introducedParrytotheSlovenescholarMatijaMurko,whohadwrittenextensivelyabouttheheroicepic
traditioninSerboCroatandparticularlyinBosniawiththehelpofphonographrecordings.[2]From
Parry'sresultingresearchinBosnia,therecordsofwhicharenowhousedatHarvardUniversity,heand
hisstudentAlbertLordrevolutionizedHomericstudies.[3]

Meilletandinternationallanguages
Meilletsupportedtheuseofaninternationalauxiliarylanguage.InhisbookTheSearchforthePerfect
Language,UmbertoEcocitesMeilletassaying,"Anykindoftheoreticaldiscussionisuseless,
Esperantoisfunctioning".[4]Inaddition,MeilletwasaconsultantwiththeInternationalAuxiliary
LanguageAssociation,whichpresentedInterlinguain1951.[5]

Publications
190205:tudessurl'tymologieetlevocabulaireduvieuxslave.Paris,Bouillon.
1903:Esquissed'unegrammairecomparedel'armnienclassique.
1903:Introductionl'tudecomparativedeslanguesindoeuropennes.
1908:Lesdialectesindoeuropens.
1913:Aperud'unehistoiredelalanguegrecque.
1913:AltarmenischesElementarbuch.
1917:Caractresgnrauxdeslanguesgermaniques(rev.edn.1949)
1921:Linguistiquehistoriqueetlinguistiquegnrale.
1923:Lesoriginesindoeuropennesdesmtresgrecs.
1924:Leslanguesdumonde(coeditorwithMarcelCohen).(Collectionlinguistique,16.)Paris:
Champion.(2ndedn.1952)
1924:Leslavecommun
1928:Esquissed'unehistoiredelalanguelatine.
1925:Lamthodecomparativeenlinguistiquehistorique(Thecomparativemethodinhistorical
linguisticstranslatedbyGordonB.Ford,Jr.,1966)
1932:Dictionnairetymologiquedelalanguelatine.

Seealso
Meillet'slaw
PierreChantraine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Meillet

2/3

11/03/2016

AntoineMeilletWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Notes
1.Meillet,Antoine(1923),Lesoriginesindoeuropennesdesmtresgrecs,Paris:PressesUniversitairesdeFrance,p.61.Adam
Parry'stranslation,revised.

2.Lord,AlbertBates(1960),Thesingeroftales,Cambridge,Massachusetts:HarvardUniversityPress,pp.11
12Dalby,Andrew(2006),RediscoveringHomer,NewYork,London:Norton,ISBN0393057887,pp.
186187.
3.Parry,MilmanParry,Adam(editor)(1971),ThemakingofHomericverse.ThecollectedpapersofMilman
Parry,Oxford:ClarendonPress
4.Nneer,Simajro(2006),"UmbertoEcodiris...",anarticleinKontakto,aquarterlyinEsperantolanguage,
Nr.213,p.14,Rotterdam:UniversalaEsperantoAsocio
5.Esterhill,Frank(2000),InterlinguaInstitute:AHistory,NewYork:InterlinguaInstitute.

Externallinks
FrenchWikisourcehasoriginaltextrelatedtothisarticle:AntoineMeillet
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antoine_Meillet&oldid=704174681"
Categories: 1866births 1936deaths PeoplefromMoulins,Allier Frenchphilologists
IndoEuropeanists UniversityofParisalumni UniversityofParisfaculty Slavists
Armenianstudiesscholars ScholarsofAncientGreek
MembersoftheAcadmiedesInscriptionsetBellesLettres
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon10February2016,at00:29.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionalterms
mayapply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.Wikipediaisa
registeredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Meillet

3/3