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Abstract
This dissertation examines the factors that shape academic and popular conceptions of a language’s origins by using Romanian language history, and the development of its study over time, as a case study. I apply the methods of intellectual history to the domain of historical linguistics to contextualize shifting language origin stories and to reveal and analyze the various social, cultural, intellectual, and political elements that construct them. By centering on the study of Romanian’s origins in particular, the project examines questions of definition and assumption, historical interpretation, the relationship between myth and history, and the use of the scientific medium of historical linguistics as a tool for political justification. I begin with a broad overview of the conceptualization of language origins in the field of linguistics, in mythology, and in historical works. After a brief overview of Romania’s political history, the development of the formal field of linguistics in Romania, and the first attestations of the Romanian language for context, I cover the major periods of thought on the origins of Romanian. These encompass the chroniclers’ period (in the 16th to 18th centuries), the time of the Transylvanian School (in the 18th to 19th centuries), the period of scientific synthesis (in the early 20th century), the Dacian period (in waves, but especially the early-to-mid 20th century), the Communist period (in the mid-to-late 20th century), and the contemporary period (around 1990 through the present day). For a comparison point, I then provide a brief overview of the study of the origins of French, and ascertain recurring themes. I conclude by identifying the apparent main elements of language genesis conceptualization as revealed by the stories of Romanian and French, considering the role that language origin stories play in nation-building and national myths, and underscoring the importance of developing a niche for intellectual historical scholarship within the discipline of linguistics.