ABSTRACT
In 1863 Wilhelm von Humboldt asserted that the forming of languages, 'in every type of derivation or composition', is an 'essentially characteristic fact about the mind'. Moreover, it 'displays . . . the collective action of individuals in a shape that does not otherwise occur'. This has consequences of crucial importance, he argued, the first of which is that the 'connection of the individual with his nation lies right at the centre from whence the total mental power determines all thinking, feeling and willing. For language is related to everything therein, to the whole as to the individual, and nothing of this ever is, or remains alien to it.' For Humboldt languages are both 'the work of nations' and 'the self-creations of individuals' (1836:1988 edn., 43-4).33 His work contributed to the increasingly intense speculation on the nature and function of language and its relation to national identity which accompanied the emergence of modern European nationalisms. The proliferation of theories concerning linguistic origin and development, in which a particular intellectual and moral 'character' was attributed to a language, demonstrates a common perception of the closeness and importance of this relation. In the twentieth century the critical theory which has dominated not merely literary and philosophical analysis, but also sociology, theology, psychology and philosophy of science has provided new insights in this area. However, there is still as little agreement concerning the relation of language to the emergence of nations and national self-consciousness as within linguistic theory as a whole.
