William Jones (philologist)

Sir William Jones (September 28, 1746 – April 27, 1794) was a British philologist and student of ancient India, particularly known for his discovery of the Indo-European languages family.

Related Topics:
September 28 - 1746 - April 27 - 1794 - British - Philologist - India - Indo-European language

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Jones was born at Beaufort Buildings, Westminster; his father (also named Sir William Jones) was a mathematician. The young William Jones was a linguistic prodigy, learning Greek, Latin, Persian, Arabic and the basics of Chinese writing at an early age. By the end of his life he knew thirteen languages thoroughly and another twenty-eight reasonably well, making him a hyperpolyglot.

Related Topics:
Westminster - William Jones - A linguistic prodigy - Greek - Latin - Persian - Arabic - Chinese - Hyperpolyglot

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Though his father died when he was only three, Jones was still able to go to university. He graduated from University College, Oxford in 1764. Too poor, even with his award, to pay the fees, he gained a job tutoring seven-year-old Earl Spencer, son of Lord Althorp and as such an ancestor of Princess Diana. He embarked on a career as a tutor and translator for the next six years. During this time he published Histoire de Nader Chah, a French translation of a work originally written in Persian done at the request of King Christian VII of Denmark who had visited Jones - who by the age of 22 had already required a reputation as an orientalist. This would be the first of numerous works on Persia, Turkey, and the Middle East in general.

Related Topics:
University College, Oxford - 1764 - Earl Spencer - Princess Diana - Christian VII of Denmark - Orientalist - Persia - Turkey - Middle East

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For three years beginning in 1770 he studied law, which would eventually lead him to his life-work in India; after a spell as a circuit judge in Wales, and a fruitless attempt to resolve the issues of the American Revolution in concert with Benjamin Franklin in Paris, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Bengal in 1783.

Related Topics:
1770 - Wales - American Revolution - Benjamin Franklin - Paris - Bengal - 1783

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In the Subcontinent he was entranced by Indian culture, an as-yet untouched field in European scholarship, and founded the Asiatick Society of Bengal. Over the next ten years he would produce a flood of works on India, launching the modern study of the subcontinent in virtually every social science. He also wrote on the local laws, music, literature, botany, and geography, and made the first English translations of several important works of Indian literature.

Related Topics:
Subcontinent - Asiatick Society of Bengal

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