Rasmus Rask
Honorary academician
Danish linguist whose close comparisons of grammar and sounds helped establish the study of linguistic relationship.
- Life
- 1787–1832
- Field or role
- Comparative linguistics and Germanic philology
Rasmus Rask (1787–1832) was a Danish linguist and a founder of comparative language study. His early interest in Icelandic and Old Norse grew into a much wider investigation of the relationships among languages.
In his study of the origins of Old Norse or Icelandic, published in 1818, Rask gave particular weight to grammatical structure and regular correspondences between sounds. Similar-looking words alone could mislead; convincing relationships required patterns that held across a body of evidence.
His observations on Germanic consonants helped prepare the ground for the formulation later known as Grimm’s law. He also traveled extensively to study languages, visiting Iceland and continuing eastward through Russia, Persia, India, and Ceylon.
The Danetian Academy honors Rask for the patient habits of comparison that his work encouraged. A promising resemblance is a beginning. The pleasure lies in finding out whether the rest of the language supports it.