Otto Jespersen’s three ranks theory and Karl Teodor Gustav Keyser’s contribution (1875)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4454/3eskwc68Keywords:
Three Ranks Theory, Otto Jespersen, Syntax, Grammar, Dependency, Theoretical LinguisticsAbstract
In one of his main works, The Philosophy of Grammar (1924), Otto Jespersen develops his syntactic theory known as the “theory of three ranks”.
Until now, however, few if any have tackled the work to which this theory refers as its source of inspiration: a relatively minor contribution by Swedish military and language scholar Klas Teodor Gustaf Keyser, the Afhandling om svenska språket [Treatise on the Swedish language] (1875). The present article examines Jespersen’s concept of grammar/syntax in the light of this rather obscure
reference.
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