Skandináv óriások vállán állva? Szellemi örökség Sajnovics János Demonstratio Idioma Ungarorum et Lapponum idem esse című művében

The Hungarian Jesuit Joannes (János) Sajnovics’ “Demonstratio” (Demonstratio that Language of the Hungarians and the Lapps is the same) is a classic of Finno-Ugrian linguistics. An astronomer without previous experience in the comparative study of languages, Sajnovics embarked upon his study, seemingly unprepared, while participating at an astronomical expedition to Finnmark in far-northern Norway in 1768–69. When spending the winter 1769–70 in Copenhagen, he interacted with members of the Royal Danish Society of Sciences and presented his theory at their sessions. His landmark “Demonstratio” was published in two editions, in 1770 (Copenhagen) and 1771 (Trnava). Close reading of the first edition strongly suggests that the novel methodology of Sajnovics was informed nearly exclusively by Scandinavian scholarship; references to central-European scholars and their theories characterize the revised, second edition of the “Demonstratio”, which was made after Sajnovics and his mentor Maximilian Hell had returned to the Habsburg kingdom.

Kulcsszavak: finnugor nyelvészet; összehasonlító nyelvészet; számi nyelv; magyar nyelv; tudománytörténet; Skandinávia; 18. század