Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der
Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der
(häns kō`nôn fən dĕr gä`bəlĕnts), 1807–74, German linguist. Gabelentz showed the broad relationships among Pacific languages. He spoke 30 languages well and knew some 50 others. His son, Hans Georg Canon von der Gabelentz (1840–93) was an authority on East Asian languages.Gabelentz, Hans Conon Von Der
Born Dec. 13, 1807, in Altenburg; died Oct. 3, 1874, in Lemnitz, Thuringia. German philologist and Oriental scholar.
Gabelentz investigated numerous unstudied languages of Asia, Africa, and America. His work On the Passive Voice (1860) was written on the basis of materials in approximately 200 languages. He founded the journal Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes (1837—). Gabelentz’ major works were Elements of Manchurian Grammar (1832), On Philology (1852), and The Melanesian Languages (1860-73).