Uber Die Kawi-Sprache Auf Der Insel Java

Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) was a German philologist, diplomat and philosopher. While Minister of Education he was responsible for reforming the Prussian education system. His pioneering achievements in linguistics influenced many later scholars including Chomsky. This monumental three-volume study of Kawi, a traditional formal and literary language of Java belonging to the Austronesian language family, was published posthumously in 1836-9. Humboldt considered Kawi, which includes many Sanskrit loan-words, to be the common ancestor of all the Malayo-Polynesian languages, though this view is no longer accepted. Volume 1 discusses Sanskrit and Buddhist influences on Javan language and society. Volume 2 contains a detailed analysis of Kawi grammar and usage, based on an epic text, and compares Kawi with other languages of the region. Volume 3 focuses on grammatical features of Tagalog, Tongan, Tahitian and Hawaiian texts, and explores the relationship of these 'South Sea' languages with the 'Malayan' group.