Otto jespersen great vowel shift wikipedia


Otto jespersen great vowel shift wikipedia

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    Otto Jespersen

    For the Norwegian comedian, see Otto Jespersen (comedian).

    Danish linguist (1860–1943)

    Otto Jespersen

    Jespersen, c. 1915

    Born(1860-07-16)16 July 1860

    Randers, Denmark

    Died30 April 1943(1943-04-30) (aged 82)

    Roskilde, Denmark

    OccupationLinguist

    Jens Otto Harry Jespersen (Danish:[ˈʌtsʰoˈjespɐsn̩]; 16 July 1860 – 30 April 1943) was a Danish linguist who specialized in the grammar of the English language.

    Steven Mithen described him as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."[1]

    Early life

    Otto Jespersen was born in Randers in Jutland. He was inspired by the work of Danish philologist Rasmus Rask as a boy, and with the help of Rask's grammars taught himself some Icelandic, Italian, and Spanish.[2] He entered the University of Copenhagen in 1877 when he was 17, initially studying law but not forgetting his language studies.

    In 1881 he shifted his foc