First Language
OleStig Andersen (OSA@inform-bbs.dk)
06 Aug 1995 13:22:39 GMT
Is Swedish the First Language ?
In the Christian Era the Bible was known to be the source of all knowledge,
including linguistics. Hebrew was the original language of woMan, the
language that Adam and Eve talked in Paradise. The advent of the Tower of
Babel explained why a large number of mutually unintelligible languages later
appeared, suddenly.
>From the Renaissance on the explanations in the Bible became less and less
satisfactory. Understanding had to be found somewhere else, not by Faith, but
by Research.
In the 17th century the research of the Swedish scientist Olof Rudbeck
demonstrated that Atlantis (= Paradise?) must have been located somewhere in
Sweden, and that the Original Language of Man must have been Swedish.
Of course Rudbeck was not the only one to contest the primacy of Hebrew.
Grotius (who invented International Law) suggested Dutch.
Very disappointing theories, from my Danish point of view!
Does anybody 'out there' know more about Rudbeck and Grotius and their
contemporaries (their linguistic ideas, that is) and the intellectual milieu
their linguistic research and conclusions were conducted in?
Ole Stig Andersen
Nyvej 16 B, 1851 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
tel +45 33 25 34 94
fax +45 33 25 16 52
e-mail osa@inform-bbs.dk
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