author
Henry Sweet
1845–1912
A pioneering scholar of language, this English philologist helped lay the foundations of modern phonetics and transformed the study of Old English. His sharp ear for speech and deep curiosity about how language works made him one of the most influential language scholars of his time.
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About the author
Born in London on September 15, 1845, Henry Sweet became one of the leading British scholars of language in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He studied at King's College School, Balliol College, Oxford, and Heidelberg, and built a reputation for exacting, original work on phonetics, grammar, and the history of English.
Sweet is especially remembered for his work on spoken language and sound systems. He was a major figure in the development of phonetics as a serious field of study, and he also made lasting contributions to the study of Old English and other Germanic languages. His books, including A New English Grammar and The Practical Study of Languages, influenced both linguistic scholarship and language teaching.
Although widely respected, Sweet never received the academic recognition many thought he deserved until later in life, when Oxford created a readership in phonetics for him in 1901. He died in Oxford on April 30, 1912, but his influence continued well beyond his lifetime; he is often noted as one of the real-life inspirations behind Henry Higgins in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.