Otto Jespersen

Otto Jespersen was a prominent Danish linguist of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He is widely recognized for his detailed descriptions of English grammar. Scholars like Steven Mithen have described him as one of the greatest language experts of his era. Jespersen's work spanned many fields, including historical phonetics and foreign-language pedagogy. His approach was characterized by a functional view of language. He believed that linguistic theories should remain tethered to the reality of how people actually communicate.

Jespersen's academic journey began with a strong sense of self-motivation. He was born in Randers, Denmark, in 1860, as one of nine children. After his father died, his family moved to Hillerød. There, his Jutland accent was often ridiculed. This experience did not stop his interest in communication. Instead, he used the grammars of the philologist Rasmus Rask to teach himself Icelandic, Italian, and Spanish. He entered the University of Copenhagen in 1877 at age 17. Although he initially studied law, he never abandoned his passion for languages.

To support his studies, Jespersen worked as a stenographer for the Rigsdag, the Danish parliament, from 1880 to 1887. This income allowed him to focus entirely on languages in 1881. He eventually pursued a degree called the Skoleembedseksamen. He chose French as his major and English as his minor. During this time, he had to study Latin, a subject he famously disliked. He even joined other students in an unsuccessful appeal to make Latin voluntary. It took him a decade to earn his Master's degree in French. This long process helped develop his habits of wide and self-motivated study.

Jespersen sought knowledge through extensive travel and mentorship. In 1887, he visited London and Oxford to meet famous phoneticians and scholars. He traveled to Germany to meet historical linguists in cities like Leipzig and Halle. He also spent two months in Neuilly-sur-Seine studying with Paul Passy. He visited Paris to hear lectures from various scholars and to observe English lessons. Later, he studied Old and Middle English in Berlin under Julius Zupitza. These international connections prepared him for his future career in Copenhagen.

In 1893, Jespersen became a professor of English at the University of Copenhagen. He held this position until his retirement in 1925. Before this, he had successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on the English case system in 1891. His appointment followed a highly competitive contest for the professorship. He was chosen because he was up to date in English philology and spoke English perfectly. During his long career, he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and later as the Rector of the university.

One of Jespersen's most significant contributions was revolutionizing language teaching. At the end of the 19th century, Danish teaching was often stuck in old methods. These methods focused on theoretical grammar and translation. Jespersen and Johan August Lundell cofounded a group called "Quousque Tandem" to fight this. They advocated for the "direct method" of teaching. This method prioritized spoken language over written rules. Students would first recognize words by ear and repeat them. Only after mastering the sounds would they learn to read the words.

Jespersen also made major advancements in the field of phonetics. Phonetics is the study of the sounds used in human speech. He was inspired by the work of Henry Sweet and Vilhelm Thomsen. He developed an "analphabetic" or "antalphabetic" system to represent sounds. This system used Roman letters for passive articulators and Greek letters for active articulators. He also used numerals to show the shape of the aperture, or the opening, during speech. Jespersen even suggested creating a universal phonetic alphabet. This idea helped lead to the formation of the International Phonetic Association, of which he became a member in 1886.