Re-Constructing Ideology, Part One: Animadversions of John Horne Tooke on the Origins of Affixes and Non-Designative Words
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Re-constructing ideology, Part one: Animadversions of John Horne Tooke on the origins of affixes and non-designative words Fredric Dole~al J Introduction John Home Tooke occupies a unique place in the hi!)tory of Indo-European studies and lexicography - ohlivion: Only rarely in discussions of lndo Europcan linguistics and lexicography does one find a mention of the unre doubtablc, irascible. and scioli~tic champion of comparative and historical language study: but then. why ~hould a sciolist and purveyor of fanciful ety mologies he mentioned at all '? If we acknowledge the widely accepted propo sition that 'linguistics-as-we-know-it' began "1th Franz Bopp. then Home Tooke need not be considered at all. HoweH:r. this proposition can be main tained only by interpreting the history of linguistics as a progre,~ion of meth ods and theories that lead inextricably to a particular school of thought. Most linguists in the waning years of the twentieth century are comforted by the co incidence of the progression of linguistic knO\vledge with our contemporary theory of language. I hope to show in this essay the complex of issues that follow from a read ing of Tooke's The dfrersivns of Purley. Studies of the palit twenty years or ~o have concentrated on philosophical and political reputation and influences. 1 I present a brief biographical sketch. a summary of some necessary comments on Tooke the philosopher and Tooke the political figure . and a description and illustration of Tooke the theorist of language. Because there i~ relatively so lillle comprehensive and detailed work on the history of linguistics of any period, the methods and principles of language theory presented here cannot be exhaustively described and explained. In other words. the idea~ published in Tookc's two volumes ddy a reductive explanation. We do not arriYe at the prcM~nt stage of historical linguistics by following either an unhroken e\·o lution of knowledge, or by charting a succession of intellectual paradigms. Further. linguistic ideas are not autonomou~ or easily separated from 1heir ~odal context. A carefully considered analysis of the social. political. and 262 f, rNJr,r I Jo/r;J1l . f the late eighteenth century ru, it pertafo~ to Ian O intellectual rn. iJ,cu c<Jn"-cquencc the collap\C of canonically &u,gc fi1vc a, one recep Lhcory may 11t• • • odJ •Cd . ., , (cg the 1< oman 11c pen · ",Y I,r cra pcru,u, · · 1..,. ,uoge\tivc in l h.,, regard . Th c primary f , i,ay can on1 Y I J\, c: • • ~ \ Th 1 1 • " c,· r' c' ,d. ca,: J c·h 'a ll enge the ac,c,umptmn. that. Tooke " work had Only ' on lrngu,, 1 the development of h1, toncal comparati,e lincn,· 4 , ri ve influence on I eul,1,c, ncga . mprion depend, on an mcomp cte undmtanding f · Fngland 1 he a,~u o the in. , . While I cannot in the prc,cnt e,,ay argue the ca.\C of tnOucn IJ, vcr.wnn\ . making claim, about the 1ran~mi~1.i 1on and ".(>croJ Ct hccaw,c rhat ,nvo1 vc, . h <)g) ,. ., orand ,calc, J can de,cnbc t e mcthod.1.i and pnnc· of knowh;ugc on a O' rp1 e, that inform Tooke', work They appear lo be a1.i tmportam. and ~metime, . " t , nineteenth c.cntury commentator, on h,, work ac, the more unportan , 11 ct- . h cl ve, F-rom I80 I onward, cnucal c,,ay, and lcner~ apflj>., ymologrc~ t cm, · . r-Qr . pcr·,,,. ,,·cal, reaching a '>Ca thmgly d1 '.) m1\\Jve tone by 1835 Ho.. in vanouh u • . · ... ever, an edition of /Jiver.uonr i, publi, hcd a, late a~ 1860 (the audience doe~ nor include lingui"t,, it would c,eemJ_- The editor ~ note, caJI the reader·, attention to the flaws in the etymolog,e, (man) time'> u,ing Bopp a.1i an au. thority J, but the preface make, a ca,c for reading Tooke rcgardlc~1i of the error,: I tru, I that Lhc,c note,. and the few thJI arc \.C~lltcred through the v.ork. "'JII 11 01 he thought foreign to JI\ dc,1gn. whether the} coincide " 1th Mr Tooke. or propo.,c cx plana11on" differing from tho....c whrch he ha, given. h 15 CJ'E OF His C,Rl!A1 P.X<P.11 ~NC I~ rHAf HJ ALWAY5 Pl AU 5 H<JNL.HLY Al'-D f-LI LY 61:f-OR£ f JI H RP.A Df. R~ Al L TflP. UATA FROM WHICH tfl', DEOI CTIO!l:5 AIU. MAIJt: : 'IO that even where he may be thought to err he i, \Ure to be 1mtruct1\c (Taylor apud Tooke 1860: liv) jcmpha,i, \Upphcdl. Tooke'~ methods and theorie~. if not hi<; re~uJ~. have some important con grucncics with Bopp and ~ome of ht<. fell ow San,kritists and Germanists: In the cffort to bring order to the hi~torical record. we concentrate on difference and downplay ~imilari ty ~o tha1 period~, epoch,\, and paradigm<; migh1 be crcatc<.l a<-. di,tinct a~ a national border. In North America It i~ a common place to al.i!\ert a Kuh nian influenced analy1,is of linguistic hi~tory that neate, a revolution of thought that not only marginalia\, but tri\ ializc\ most. 1f not all, work before the publication of Noam Chom~ky'~ Sr11tactic strucrum. There ~hould be no wonder. then. that hi,torical lingui,tic~ it~clf doe~ fl()( hold a central po~ition m the di~cipline today. In order to hold a place m the prc~cnt epi~teme, Mal wart~ of diachronic ~tudie, w,11 place the &rround '.1.00: oJ the revolution at the time of Bopp. Ra,k. and the Grimm,: to admit an~ work hcyond that would invite the ridicule of the MandanJ hearer.,.: Re-construcring ideology 263 I wiJJ not an~mpt to place Home Tooke in a Kuhnian-style drama of paradigm formation or dec~y • Because the DiverJ·ions was a financial suc cess for the author and evidently had a varied readership, we should not reduce the influence or reputation of the text to its impact on historical com parative philology in England (or elsewhere). Without a method to determine the transmission of knowledge or the sociology of this transmission, there can only be impressionistic speculation founded upon our own beliefs about the past and abou~ the im~rtance of our scholarship. There can be no doubt that his work was rnfluent1aJ for a number of years in England; the nature of this influence, however, has not been fully explored. Two questions are consid ere<J: ( J) How did his contemporaries react to the publication of his ideas; and (2) what, if any, linguistic ideas can be found in his published work. A third question concerning the inspiration for his theory and philosophy of language is addressed in a forthcoming paper; this includes more empha sis upon the text as a source of information on reading Old English script, Jiterary interpretation, the history of philosophy and grammar, a critique of grammar texts, and an analysis of lexicographic definition. In the present artide, I look at question (2) in some detail. while summarizing previous insights into question ( I). I preface the analysis with a brief synopsis of the life and times of John Home Tooke. 1.1 Biographical sketch The following words from The memoirs of John Home Tooke are recorded by A]exander Stephens who was befriended by the 62 year old Tooke. The meeting described below occurred at the end of Home Tooke' s public career: The year 1798 proved a busy and important one to Mr. Tooke. The first part of the 'Diversions of Purley' had by thj s time obtained a considerable degree of circulation and celebrity . A second edition . was indeed called for by the general voice . This work . contributed not a little to enhance his reputation, and . it tended greatly to improve his fortune also. The volume in question includes, among the additions, the copy of an original Jetter from Mr. Pitt to the author in 1782; and also some bitter allusions to the political conduct of Mr. Windham . It was soon after this period, also. that I first f requt!nted the house of Mr. Home Tooke .. Instead of finding a man equally repulsive in his manners and appearance, as some had taught me to expect. 1 was most agreeably disappointed, at the first interview, to be received with the politeness of a well-bred gentleman . When I first saw him. he had already passed the meridian of life, and his dress, which savoured of the old school, seemed to 264 Fn•dric /Jo/,,:.al add an air of dignit y tn hi., convcr~auon. I It, <.: oat, which corn,l\tc<l of iJ lfa hrown English hroad-cloth. wa., calculated tor coun, a., II Wti\ <lc'l!nutc rk 01 1 modern appendage of a collar; while hi ~ cuff~ wen· adorned Wllh a lar~c row~,~ ·cl hutton~ .. hi., wai~tcoal "a" hanJ.,omdy Lamhourcd. h1, , tockinu Stt.: • . o" Were of silk ; he wore Jong rum ~~ al th~ wn, t; wl11lc h1 , h:.ur wa., 11c<l and powdcrC(J in the manner of former tum.:, (Stephen~ IX U . 2. 2l2-214J. · By 1798 he already had taken order, in the ( 'hun.: h of England and h· left his preferment (pries~ of Brentford); he had tried un~ucl.:c1i,.fully lo ~ admitted to the bar three time~; he had_become a mcmhcr of parliament, onl be removed within day~ of hi~ clct:tron hy vote of the Hou -,c of Comm Y 10 .