The Sanskrit Language (1786 discourse)

E901587

The Sanskrit Language (1786 discourse) is Sir William Jones’s landmark 1786 address to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in which he famously argued for a common origin of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and other languages, helping to found the field of comparative linguistics and Indo-European studies.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf academic lecture ⓘ
historical document ⓘ
scholarly discourse ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Jones’s 1786 discourse on the Sanskrit language ⓘ
Sir William Jones’s 1786 address to the Asiatic Society of Bengal ⓘ
audience members of the Asiatic Society of Bengal ⓘ
author Sir William Jones ⓘ
countryAtTimeOfDelivery British India ⓘ
date 1786 ⓘ
deliveredAt Asiatic Society of Bengal ⓘ
deliveredBy Sir William Jones ⓘ
discipline linguistics ⓘ
philology ⓘ
fieldFounded Indo-European studies ⓘ
comparative linguistics ⓘ
genre learned society address ⓘ
historicalSignificance early formulation of the Indo-European language family hypothesis ⓘ
landmark in the study of language relationships ⓘ
impact helped establish the comparative method in linguistics ⓘ
stimulated European interest in Sanskrit studies ⓘ
influencedField Indology ⓘ
linguistics ⓘ
philology ⓘ
keyIdea systematic comparison of vocabulary and grammar across languages ⓘ
use of linguistic evidence to infer common ancestry of languages ⓘ
language English ⓘ
location Calcutta ⓘ
mainClaim Sanskrit is related to Gothic and Celtic ⓘ
Sanskrit is related to Old Persian ⓘ
Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin have a common origin ⓘ
mentionsLanguage Celtic ⓘ
Gothic ⓘ
Greek ⓘ
Latin ⓘ
Old Persian ⓘ
Sanskrit ⓘ
period 18th century ⓘ
regionOfFocus South Asia ⓘ
relatedConcept Indo-European language family ⓘ
historical-comparative method ⓘ
language genealogy ⓘ
subject Indo-European languages ⓘ
Sanskrit language ⓘ
linked to: Sanskrit

comparative linguistics ⓘ
historical linguistics ⓘ
yearOfDelivery 1786 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

William Jones (philologist) → notableWork → The Sanskrit Language (1786 discourse) ⓘ
The Sanskrit Language (1786 discourse) → alsoKnownAs → Jones’s 1786 discourse on the Sanskrit language ⓘ
linked to: The Sanskrit Language (1786 discourse)
The Sanskrit Language (1786 discourse) → alsoKnownAs → Sir William Jones’s 1786 address to the Asiatic Society of Bengal ⓘ
linked to: The Sanskrit Language (1786 discourse)