PORZIG, Walter. Ronneburg/Thüringen 30.3.1895 — Mainz 14.10.1961. German IE Scholar. Professor in Bern, Jena and Mainz. Son of judge Max Porzig (1865–1910) and Hedwig Brauer. After school in Jena and Leipzig studied in 1913-14 at Jena and Leipzig (under Windisch et al.) and again, after military service, in 1919-21, now also at Munich. Ph.D. 1921 Jena (under F. Sommer). PD 1922 Leipzig (under Streitberg), in Sanskrit and Indo-Germanic. From 1925 ord. Professor of comparative linguistics and classical philology at Bern. In 1935 he was dismissed for political reasons (as Nazi) and returned to Jena as Professor, thus changing place with Debrunner. In 1941-45 ord. Professor at the University of Strasbourg, germanized during the occupation, but most of time in military service in Norway, 1944-45 in Jena. In 1945-46 interned. In 1951 settled down in Mainz and taught as Professor there. He was known for applying the results of general linguistics to IE, but also for his Nazi sympaties. Married 1919 Gertrud Müller, five children.
Publications: Diss. Die syntaktische Funktion des Coniunctivus Imperfecti im Altlateinischen. 100 p. Jena 1921.
– Hab.diss. Die Hypotaxe im Rigveda. Lp. 1922, also in the IF 41, 1923, 210-303.
– Translated: Die wichtigsten Erzählungen vom Mahabharata. 1. Liebesgeschichten. 2. Das Schlangenopfer. 160+155 p. Ind. Erz. 12 & 15. Lp. 1923-24.
– “Der Begriff der inneren Sprachform”, IF 41, 1923; “Sprachform und Bedeutung”, Idg. Jb. 12, 1928; “Boden”, W & S 15, 1933, 112-133; “Smaragd”, Glotta 25, 1936.
– “Kleinasiatisch-indische Beziehungen”, ZII 5, 1927, 265-280.
– Die Namen für Satzinhalte im Griechischen und Indogermanischen. 10+365 p. B. 1942.
– Das Wunder der Sprache; Probleme, Methoden und Ergebnisse der modernen Sprachwisenschaft. 414 p. Munich & Bern 1950, 2nd ed. 1957, 9th ed. 1993.
– Die Gliederung des indogermanischen Sprachgebiets. 251 p. Heidelberg 1954.
– Much on classical philology and linguistics.
Sources: *L.M. Eichinger, Lex. gramm. 1996, 746f.; H. Humbach, Gnomon 34, 1962, 426-428 & *“Würdigung des wissenschaftlichen Werkes”, Walter Porzig (1895-1961): Würdigung durch die Philosophische Fakultät der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (1962), 18-27; R. Schmitt, N.D.B. 20, 2001, 645f.; briefly D.B.E. 8, 1998, 41; German Wikipedia; photo in Rau 125.
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