Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835), German man of letters and diplomat, was also an extraordinary philologist.

"Humboldt's profound study is one of the classics of linguistic theory, a work of great insight and originality, of deep significance for the study of language and of human psychology and culture. His concept of linguistic forms and his ideas concerning linguistic creativiety are particularly fascinating and provocative, and of great contemporary interest." (Noam Chomsky) "This treatise, in our open and covert pro and con, has ever since determined the course of all subsequent philology and philosophy of language. . . . Astounding, obscure, and yet continuously stimulating." (Martin Heidegger)

• Note to the TranslationTranslator's ForewordPreface by Alexander von HumboldtTransliteration of Foreign AlphabetsObjective of the Present Treatise1. The Course of Human Development2. Effect of Exceptional Intellectual Power: Civilization, Culture, and Education3. Cooperation of Individuals and Nations4. A More Detailed Consideration of Language5. Morphology of Languages6. Nature and Properties of Language7. The Phonetic System of Languages8. Internal Linguistic Morphology and Structure9. The Relationship of Phonemic Quantity to Intellectual Concept10. The Linguistic Process: Etymology and Morphology11. Isolation, Inflection, and Agglutination of Words12 The Word Unit: The Incorporative Capacity of Language13. Accentuation14. The Incorporative System of Languages: Syntactical Sentence Components15. Congruence of Phonetic Patterns of Languages with Grammatical Requirements16. Structural Differences Between Languages17. The Character of Languages18. Independent Synthesis in Languages19. A Review of the Present Investigation20. Less Developed Linguistic Structure: The Semitic and Delaware Indian Languages21. Less Developed Linguistic Structure: The Chinese and Burmese Languages22. The Origin of Polysyllabic StructureNotesBibliographyIndex