BASK, RASMUS CHRISTIAN', a distinguished Danish philologist, was b. at Brendekilde, near Odense, in the island of Fhnen, Nov. 22, 1787: studied at Copenhagen, and in 180S published his first work, Vejledning til det Islandske eller gamlb mrdiski Sprog (Rules of the Icelandic or the Ancient Language of the North). During the years 1807-12 he occupied himself with drawing up grammatical systems for most of the Ger manic, Slavic. and Romanic tongues, and in comparing them with those of India. He then visited Sweden, where lie commenced to study Finnish; and in 1S13 proceeded to Iceland, where he lived for two or three years, perfecting his Knowledge of the language, the history, and the sagas of the inhabitants. On his return to Copenhagen, he was appointed sub-librarian to the university; and in 1818 published a splendid work, Under saegelse om (let gande nordiske eller Islandske Sprogs Oprindelse (Resell relies concerning the Origin of the Icelandic or Ancient Language of the North), which led Grimm to his famous discovery of the displacement of consonants in the Teutonic languages. Pre vious to this, however, he bad resolved to visit Asia; and after spending a year (1817) in Stockholm, where he published his admirable Anyeleakeik Sproglaere (Anglo-Saxon Gram mar), and the first critical and complete edition of the two great monuments of Scandi navian mythology, the Snorra Edda and the Edda Saemandadr, he went to St. Petersburg, where lie devoted himself for two years, with intense eagerness, to the study of the orien tal languages, principally Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic; but not failing to acquire, at the same time, a competent knowledge of Russian and Finnish. Thus equipped be pro
ceeded to Astrakhan. where he stayed six weeks, to study the language of the Tartars, and then commenced a journey through the country of the Turkomans, the Caucasus, Persia (where lie added the Mongol and Mantchu dialects to his already enormous lin guistic acquisitions), Hindustan (cultivating in the last-mentioned country the society of learned Brahmans, and visiting all their great schools), and finally Ceylon, where he made himself acquainted with Cingalese and Pali, and wrote his Singaleeisk Skrijnere (Colom bo, 1822). In 1823 Rask returned to Copenhagen, laden with learning and rare manuscript treasures, of which the greatest part was presented to the university. In 1825 he was appointed professor of "literary history," and in 1828 of oriental languages. Next year he was made chief custodier of the university library ; and in 1831, professor of Ice landic. But his immense labors had exhausted his energies, and he died Nov. 14, 1832, at the early age of 45, a victim of hard work. Besides the productions already men tioned, Rask wrote Prisisk Sproglaere (Cop. 1825); Den gande Aegyptiske Tideregning (The Ancient Egyptian Chronology, 1827); Den aeldeste Hebraiske Tideregning (The Oldest Hebrew Chronology, 1829); besides grammars of several languages, and a great number of miscellaneous articles in the learned journals of the north, which were collected after his death, and published (Cop. 3 vols., 1834-38), together with a life by Petersen.