science

Otto von Böhtlingk

Otto von Böhtlingk is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Otto von Böhtlingk rather than just read about it. In short: Otto von Böhtlingk (Russian: Оттон Николаевич Бётлингк, romanized: Otton Nikolayevich Byotlingk; 30 May [O.S. 11 June] 1815 – 19 March [O.S. 1 April] 1904) was a Russian-German Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. His magnum opus was a Sanskrit-German dictionary.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Otto von Böhtlingk (Russian: Оттон Николаевич Бётлингк, romanized: Otton Nikolayevich Byotlingk; 30 May [O.S. 11 June] 1815 – 19 March [O.S. 1 April] 1904) was a Russian-German Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. His magnum opus was a Sanskrit-German dictionary.

Biography He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His German ancestors migrated to Russia from Lübeck in 1713. Having studied (1833–1835) Oriental languages, particularly Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit, at the University of Saint Petersburg, he continued his studies in Germany, first in Berlin and then (1839–1842) in Bonn. Returning to Saint Petersburg in 1842, he was attached to the Royal Academy of Sciences, and was elected an ordinary member of that society in 1855. In 1860 he was made Russian state councillor, and later privy councillor with a title of nobility. In 1862, the American Philosophical Society elected him an international Member. In 1868 he settled at Jena, and in 1885 moved to Leipzig, where he resided until his death.

Scholarship Böhtlingk was one of the most distinguished scholars of the nineteenth century, and his works are of pre-eminent value in the field of Indian and comparative philology. His first great work was a translation of the Sanskrit grammar of Panini, Aṣṭādhyāyī, with a German commentary, under the title Acht Bücher grammatischer Regeln (Bonn, 1839–1840). This was in reality a criticism of Franz Bopp's philological methods. This work was followed by:

Vopadevas Grammatik (Saint Petersburg, 1847) Über die Sprache der Jakuten (Saint Petersburg, 1851) [1] Indische Sprüche, a series of Sanskrit apothegms and proverbial verses (2nd ed. in 3 parts, Saint Petersburg, 1870–1873, to which an index was published by Blau, Leipzig, 1893) a critical examination and translation of the Chandogya Upanishad (Saint Petersburg, 1889) a translation of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Saint Petersburg, 1889) His magnum opus was his great Sanskrit-German dictionary, Sanskrit-Wörterbuch (7 vols., Saint Petersburg, 1853–1875; shortened ed. (without citations) 7 vols, Saint Petersburg, 1879–1889), which with the assistance of his two friends, Rudolf Roth (d. 1895) and Albrecht Weber (b. 1825), was completed in 23 years. He also published several smaller treatises, notably one on Vedic accent, Über den Accent im Sanskrit (1843). Also notable are his Sanskrit-Chrestomathie (Saint Petersburg, 1845; 2d ed., 1877–97), and an edition with translation of a treatise on Hindu poetics by Daṇḍin, Kāvyādarśa (Leipzig, 1890). Böhtlingk took up Panini's grammar again, 47 years after his first edition, when he republished it with a complete translation under the title Panini's Grammatik mit Übersetzung (Leipzig, 1887). Abhik Ghosh and Paul Kiparsky suggested that Dmitri Mendeleev may have known his contemporary's Böhtlingk's work on the periodic nature of the Sanskrit writing and this helped him in the formulation of the periodic table. According to this suggestion, Mendeleev's use of the prefixes eka, dvi, and tri (Sanskrit for one, two, and three) to name as yet undiscovered chemical elements may be viewed as an homage to Sanskrit grammar and to the Sanskrit grammarian Pāṇini.

Bibliography Kalidasa 1842 with Rudolph Roth, Sanskrit-Wörterbuch Saint Petersburg 1855–1875. Sanskrit-Wörterbuch in kürzerer Fassung 1879–1889 Panini's Grammatik 1887 Indische Sprüche - Band 1 1863 Band 2 1864 Band 3 1865, Saint Petersburg, Akad. d. Wissenschaften, 1863–65. Sanskrit-Chrestomathie 1845

Notes

References Attribution:

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Böhtlingk, Otto von". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 137.

Further reading Otto Böhtlingk an Rudolf Roth: Briefe zum Petersburger Wörterbuch 1852–1885. Herausgegeben von Heidrun Brückner und Gabriele Zeller. Bearbeitet von Agnes Stache. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2007. ISBN 978-3-447-05641-0. Willibald Kirfel (1955). "Böhtlingk, Otto Nikolaus von". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 2. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 396–397. (full text online).

External links

"Бётлинк, Отто" . Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906. "Bohtlingk, Otto von" . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. Works by or about Otto von Böhtlingk at the Internet Archive

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Otto von Böhtlingk

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Otto von Böhtlingk claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Otto von Böhtlingk before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Otto von Böhtlingk ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Otto von Böhtlingk

In research: Otto von Böhtlingk appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Otto von Böhtlingk in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Otto von Böhtlingk is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1815 births, 1904 deaths, 19th-century German male writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Otto von Böhtlingk outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Otto von Böhtlingk in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is Otto von Böhtlingk in simple terms?

Why does Otto von Böhtlingk matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Otto von Böhtlingk?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Otto von Böhtlingk.