Science Atlas

How We Know What We Know
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Scientist

Jacob Grimm

Linguistics

Jacob Grimm was born on 4 January 1785 in Hanau, Hesse-Kassel, and died on 20 September 1863 in Berlin. Remembered popularly for the fairy tale collection he compiled with his brother Wilhelm, he is significant to linguistics for his Deutsche Grammatik, a comparative grammar of the Germanic languages published in four volumes between 1819 and 1837. In the 1822 second edition of its first volume, he set out the systematic pattern of consonant correspondences between the Germanic languages and their Indo-European relatives now called Grimm's law, building on an earlier, narrower observation by the Danish scholar Rasmus Rask. Grimm's work, alongside Rask's and Franz Bopp's, established comparative philology as a rigorous method rather than a set of isolated observations.

Facts
Birth Year
1785 1
Death Date
1863-09-20 2
Death Year
1863 2
Field
Historical linguistics and philology 1
Death Place
Berlin, Germany 2
Nationality
Electorate of Hesse 2
Nationality
Kingdom of Prussia 2
Notable Work
Deutsche Mythologie 2
Notable Work
Grimms' fairy tales 2
Birthplace
Hanau, Germany 2
Birthplace
Henau, Germany 2
Field
Field (category)
Linguistics 1
Connections

Proposed

Source Jacob Grimm (Britannica)
Grimm's Law, Theories
Source Grimm's Law (Britannica)
Historical Linguistics, Concepts

Grimm's Law (1822) and Jacob Grimm's broader philological work helped found comparative and historical linguistics as a discipline.

Works In

Source Jacob Grimm (Britannica)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Jacob Grimm (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaView the Source
2. Jacob Grimm (Wikidata)
  • P570 (date of death): year
    +1863-09-20T00:00:00Z
  • P570 (date of death): full date
    +1863-09-20T00:00:00Z
  • P27 (country of citizenship): Electorate of Hesse
    Q529605
  • P20 (place of death): Berlin, Germany
    Q64
  • P27 (country of citizenship): Kingdom of Prussia
    Q27306
  • P19 (place of birth): Hanau, Germany
    Q3802
  • P19 (place of birth): Henau, Germany
    Q375839
  • P800 (notable work): Deutsche Mythologie
    Q1203584
  • P800 (notable work): Grimms' fairy tales
    Q163027
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.