German professor and philologist.
2 May 1810, Karlsruhe – 3 July 1870, Heidelberg
Known for: Holtzmann’s law also known as Verschärfung.
Claim to fame
In 1838 he noted a sound law of Proto-Germanic languages which he named the Holtzmann law and is now referred to as Verschärfung which literally means sharpening. Adolf wrote multiple books ranging from German mythology and antiquity, old German grammar, he also wrote about the famous German umlaut (umlaut means about + sound) this is about changing a letter to make it sharper an a—> ä, o—>ö u—>ü. He also wrote about the lesser-known ablaut (ab+sound) meaning that a sound moves down, the English word sing with all its ablauts can present the words sing, sang, sung and the noun song… The fact that the German word lout means sound but also loud shows the connection between the German lout and the English loud. The function of vowel changes is to etymologically follow how one language influenced another to follow where words come from and show how languages are related. It is a linguistic issue, but sheds light on anthropological questions. Some connections between languages are absurd, such as how an aeges, becomes an egg, and then an ei. Not that different languages are just a matter of mixing some letters or substituting one for another.
Adolf was, however, mainly known for his studies in Sanskrit and also wrote about Persian Cuneiform and even tried to show the connection between Celtic and German history. In his book Kelten und Germanen (affiliate link). He studied German mythology which includes German paganism or rather the ethnic pre-Christian Germanic religion. His accounts on Indian legends, Indische Legende (affiliate link) and Hindu astrology now known as Vedic astrology were controversial. Perhaps his translations and approach to Hindu texts leading up to the new-age movement and their use of Sanskrit and pseudo-Sanskrit for their self- help, Ayurveda and yoga meditations. The importance of Sanskrit is often overlooked, considering it was a lingua Franca in ancient India and influenced multiple languages including Chinese, Malay and Indonesian with the old Sanskrit words popping up in English.
At one point he intended to go to England but ended up working as a tutor to princes Karl and Wilhelm in 1837. After many years in 1852, he became the professor of German literature and Sanskrit at the University of Heidelberg.
In 1841 he wrote about the Greek origin of the Indian animal circle, which gave a different approach to the chronological theories of Indian literary history. In 1845 He attempted to decipher Persian cuneiform inscriptions and translate “Indian Legends” for which he received praise. His other works were however, highly critiqued.
A book that sheds much light on the history of German Indology which my PhD supervisor recommended me is the Nay Science (affiliate link). Adolf was also the father-in-law of Albrecht Kossel, the 1910 Nobel laureate in biochemistry.
If you know more about Adolf Holtzmann, please let me know!