File:Rasmus_Rask2.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Rasmus Rask
Sign in to saveAlso known as Rasmus Christian Rask, Erasmus Rask, Erasmus Christian Rask, Rasmus Kristian Nielsen Rask, Rasmus Kristian Rask
Danish linguist
Key facts
- Born
- Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch , ( 1787-11-22 ) 22 November 1787, Brændekilde, Denmark
- Died
- 14 November 1832 (1832-11-14) (aged 44), Copenhagen , Denmark
- Alma mater
- University of Copenhagen
- Discipline
- Linguistics , Philology
- Sub discipline
- Historical linguistics , Comparative linguistics
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Christian
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Danish Realm
- Place of birth
- Brændekilde
- Place of death
- Copenhagen
- Occupation
- philologist
- Educated at
- University of Copenhagen
- Employer
- University of Copenhagen
- Languages spoken
- Danish
- Notable work
- Grimm's law
- Image
- Rasmus Rask2.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Rasmus Christian Rask
- date of birth
- 1787-11-22
- date of death
- 1832-11-14
- student
- Benjamin Thorpe
- Commons gallery
- Rasmus Christian Rask
- place of burial
- Assistens Cemetery
- name in native language
- Rasmus Christian Rask
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- writing language
- English language
- Commons Creator page
- Rasmus Rask
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Rasmus Kristian Rask ( Danish: [ˈʁɑsmus ˈkʰʁestjæn ˈʁɑsk]; born Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch; 22 November 1787 – 14 November 1832) was a Danish linguist, philologist and a principal founder of the science of comparative linguistics. In 1818, he first showed that, in their consonant sounds, words in the Germanic languages vary with a certain regularity from their equivalents in the other Indo-European languages. What Rask observed proved to be the basis of a fundamental law of comparative linguistics (Grimm's law), which was formally set forward in 1822 by Jacob Grimm.
Rask traveled extensively to study languages, first to Iceland, where he wrote the first grammar of Icelandic, and later to Russia, Persia, India, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Shortly before his death, he was hired as professor of Eastern languages at the University of Copenhagen. Rask is especially known for his contributions to comparative linguistics, including an early formulation of what would later be known as Grimm's Law. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1829.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Rasmus Rask” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.