Daniel Brinton - The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt

His explanation of inflection is most fully given in his Introductory Essay, Ueber die Verschiedenheit , etc., § 14, Gesammelte Werke , s. 121, sqq. A sharp, but friendly criticism of this central point of his linguistic philosophy may be found in Steinthal, Charakteristik der Hauptsächlichsten Typen des Sprachbones , ss. 58-61. Humboldt certainly appears not only obscure in parts but contradictory.

See these teachings clearly set forth in his Essay, Ueber das vergleichende Sprachstudium in Beziehung auf die verschiedenen Epochen der Sprachentwicklung, Werke , Bd. iii, especially, s. 255 and s. 262.

The eloquent and extraordinary passage in which these opinions are expressed is in his Lettre à M. Abel-Remusat, Gesammelte Werke , Bd. vii, ss. 336-7.

Gesammelte Werke , Bd. iii, ss. 248, 257.

This reasoning is developed in the essay, Ueber das Vergleichende Sprachstudium , etc., Gesammelte Werke , Bd. iii, ss. 241-268; and see ibid, s. 270.

See the essay Ueber die Buchstabenschrift und ihren Zusammenhang mit dem Sprachbau, Ges. Werke , Bd. vi, ss. 551-2.

On this subtle point, which has been by no means the least difficult to his commentators, see Humboldt’s Introduction Ueber die Verschiedenheit , etc., Ges. Werke , Bd. vi, ss. 45-6, 92-5, 254-5, by a careful comparison of which passages his real intent will become apparent.

Lettre à M. Abbe-Remusat, Ges. Werke , Bd. vii, s. 396.