neogrammarian

noun

neo·​grammarian
"+
: one of a school of philologists arising in Germany about 1875, advocating the more exact formulation of phonetic law and its more rigid application to linguistic phenomena, maintaining that phonetic laws admit no real exceptions, and recognizing analogy as a normal factor in linguistic change

Word History

Etymology

ne- + grammarian; translation of German junggrammatiker

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Cite this Entry

“Neogrammarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neogrammarian. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

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