Hans Krahe
Encyclopedia
Hans Krahe was a German philologist and linguist
, specializing over many decades in the Illyrian languages. He was born at Gelsenkirchen
.
Between 1936 and 1946 he was a professor at the University of Würzburg
, where he founded the Archiv für die Gewässernamen Deutschlands in 1942. Between 1947 and 1949 he held a chair at Heidelberg and from 1949 to the time of his death he was Professor für vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft und Slavistik and Leiter des indologischen und slavischen Seminars in the University of Tübingen.
Krahe in his work of 1937 as a follower of Pan-Illyrian theory, discussed the Venetic language
known from hundreds of inscriptions as an Illyrian language which, with the lower Italian Messapian
and the Balkan Illyrian languages, forms the separate Illyrian branch of the Indo-European language family. Krahe thought that not only the name of the Illyrian and Adriatic Enetoi peoples are the same Homer mentions a people in Asia Minor, the Paphlagonians, as from the Enetai province, and a few hundred years later Herodotus refers to the Enetoi twice, once as Illyrian and again as the occupants of the Adriatic sea Krahe thought that the name of the Illyrian and Adriatic Enetos peoples are the same, and if Adriatic Enetoi were Adriatic Veneti (Venets)
and Venets were the Vistula Veneti (Veneds) mentioned in other sources then Illyrians and Veneds were the same people. The basis of this theory is the similarity of the proper nouns and place names, but most of all in the water names of the Baltic and the Adriatic (Odra, Drava, Drama, Drweca, Opawa, Notec, etc.). Having the model of Illyrian in mind he assumed that together these elements represented the remnant of one archaic language.
In his later work Krahe substituted Julius Pokorny
's theory with that of Old European hydronymy
, a network of names of water courses dating back to the Bronze Age
and to a time before Indo-European languages had developed in central, northern and western Europe. In his 1949 essay Ortsnamen als Geschichtsquelle ("Placenames as sources for history") Krahe presented the analysis of hydronymy (river names) as a source of information both historical and prehistorical, with an extended analysis of the River Main as an example (Krahe 1949:17ff.)
He examined the layers of European water names and did so using two theses. The first thesis was that the oldest layer will always be the one that can not be explained with the language of the people who currently live on the banks or shores of the given water, and/or consist of a monosyllabic stem carrying a meaning (at times derived or conjugated monosyllabic words). He found that these monosyllabic water names give a system which he called Alteuropäisch (Old European). The network of old European water names comprises waters from Scandinavia to lower Italy, and from the British Isles to the Baltic. It denotes the period of development of the common Indo-European language which was finished by the second millennium BC. Hans Krahe claimed that by that time the Western languages (Germanic, Celtic, Illyrian, so-called Italic group -the Latin-Faliscus, the Osk-Umber along with Venet-Baltic and to some extent Slavic though they still constituted a uniform Old European language and further divided later) had already dissociated from the ancient Indo-European language. The similarities in European water names resulted from the radiation of this old European system, and not from the resemblance of the common words in the later separate languages.
His assumption that the linguistic strata corresponded to ethnic strata came under critical reappraisal decades after his death, in the work of Walter Pohl
and others.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, specializing over many decades in the Illyrian languages. He was born at Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
.
Between 1936 and 1946 he was a professor at the University of Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
, where he founded the Archiv für die Gewässernamen Deutschlands in 1942. Between 1947 and 1949 he held a chair at Heidelberg and from 1949 to the time of his death he was Professor für vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft und Slavistik and Leiter des indologischen und slavischen Seminars in the University of Tübingen.
Krahe in his work of 1937 as a follower of Pan-Illyrian theory, discussed the Venetic language
Venetic language
Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken in ancient times in the North East of Italy and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po River delta and the southern fringe of the Alps....
known from hundreds of inscriptions as an Illyrian language which, with the lower Italian Messapian
Messapian language
Messapian is an extinct Indo-European language of South-eastern Italy, once spoken in the region of Apulia. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region: the Messapians, the Dauni and the Peucetii....
and the Balkan Illyrian languages, forms the separate Illyrian branch of the Indo-European language family. Krahe thought that not only the name of the Illyrian and Adriatic Enetoi peoples are the same Homer mentions a people in Asia Minor, the Paphlagonians, as from the Enetai province, and a few hundred years later Herodotus refers to the Enetoi twice, once as Illyrian and again as the occupants of the Adriatic sea Krahe thought that the name of the Illyrian and Adriatic Enetos peoples are the same, and if Adriatic Enetoi were Adriatic Veneti (Venets)
Adriatic Veneti
The Veneti were an ancient people who inhabited north-eastern Italy, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of the Veneto....
and Venets were the Vistula Veneti (Veneds) mentioned in other sources then Illyrians and Veneds were the same people. The basis of this theory is the similarity of the proper nouns and place names, but most of all in the water names of the Baltic and the Adriatic (Odra, Drava, Drama, Drweca, Opawa, Notec, etc.). Having the model of Illyrian in mind he assumed that together these elements represented the remnant of one archaic language.
In his later work Krahe substituted Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
's theory with that of Old European hydronymy
Old European hydronymy
Old European is the term used by Hans Krahe for the language of the oldest reconstructed stratum of European hydronymy in Central and Western Europe...
, a network of names of water courses dating back to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and to a time before Indo-European languages had developed in central, northern and western Europe. In his 1949 essay Ortsnamen als Geschichtsquelle ("Placenames as sources for history") Krahe presented the analysis of hydronymy (river names) as a source of information both historical and prehistorical, with an extended analysis of the River Main as an example (Krahe 1949:17ff.)
He examined the layers of European water names and did so using two theses. The first thesis was that the oldest layer will always be the one that can not be explained with the language of the people who currently live on the banks or shores of the given water, and/or consist of a monosyllabic stem carrying a meaning (at times derived or conjugated monosyllabic words). He found that these monosyllabic water names give a system which he called Alteuropäisch (Old European). The network of old European water names comprises waters from Scandinavia to lower Italy, and from the British Isles to the Baltic. It denotes the period of development of the common Indo-European language which was finished by the second millennium BC. Hans Krahe claimed that by that time the Western languages (Germanic, Celtic, Illyrian, so-called Italic group -the Latin-Faliscus, the Osk-Umber along with Venet-Baltic and to some extent Slavic though they still constituted a uniform Old European language and further divided later) had already dissociated from the ancient Indo-European language. The similarities in European water names resulted from the radiation of this old European system, and not from the resemblance of the common words in the later separate languages.
His assumption that the linguistic strata corresponded to ethnic strata came under critical reappraisal decades after his death, in the work of Walter Pohl
Walter Pohl
Walter Pohl is an Austrian historian. His area of expertise is the history of the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages....
and others.
Publications
In addition to his numerous articles, Krahe published:- Die alten balkanillyrischen geographischen Namen (Heidelberg 1925). "The old Balkan-Illyrian geographical names", his first book.
- Lexikon altillyrischen Personennamen (1929). "Dictionary of Old Illyrian personal names.
- Indogermanische Sprachwissenshaft (Berlin 1948) "Indo-German linguistics"
- Ortsnamen als Geschichtsquelle (Heidelberg 1949) "Places names as sources of history"
- Die Sprache der Illyrier I. Die Quellen (1955). ISBN 3-447-00534-3 "Languages of the Illyrians I: Sources", a summary of his previous work. Volume II. Die messapischen Inschriften und ihre Chronologie ("Messapian inscriptions and their chronology") is by Carlo de Simone and Volume III. Die messapischen Personennamen ("Messapian personal names") by Jürgen Untermann. (Wiesbaden 1964). . ISBN 3-447-00535-1
- Die Strukture der alteuropäischen Hydronomie (Wiesbaden 1963). "The structure of Old-European river names".
- Unsere ältesten Flussnamen (1964). "Our oldest river names".
- Germanische Sprachwissenschaft. Wortbildungslehre. (Berlin 1969). "German linguistics".
See also
- Old European hydronymyOld European hydronymyOld European is the term used by Hans Krahe for the language of the oldest reconstructed stratum of European hydronymy in Central and Western Europe...