WHITNEY, WHAJAm DWIGHT (1827-94). An American Sanskrit scholar and philologist, born at Northampton, Mass. Ile graduated at Williams College in 1815. For the next three or four years he was clerk in the Northampton Bank, hut began to show a marked interest in natural seienee and in languages. In 1819, as assistant sub-agent, lie areompanied the United Slates Geologieal Survey to Lake Superior, and on this expedition he began the study of Sanskrit in his leisure hours. On his return in the autumn of the same year he studied Sanskrit at Yale under Salisbury. In 1850 lie went to Ger many and spent three winters at Iherlim under Weber, the summers being devoted to work under Roth at '1'iihinaen. In 1853 he returned to Amer ica, and in 1854 was appointed to a chair of Sanskrit and comparative philology at Yale Col lege, where he remained as professor until his death. The American Oriental Si wiety owes much to him for his prolonged as corresponding secretary, editor of the society's journal, and president. He was also first president of the American Philological Association. Among his publications are: Lalignage and the Study of Language (1867; 4th ed. 1884) ; German, Gram
mar (6th ed. 1888) ; Oriental and Linguistic Studies (1872-74) ; The Life and Growth of Language Essentials of English, Gram mar (1877) ; Sanskrit Grammar (3d ed. 1896) ; Roots, Verb-forms, and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language Practical French Granular ( 1886) ; translations with commentaries of the Siirya Siddhiinta, the .1tharra Veda Prati edkhya, and the Tiiittiriga Pratioikliya (in vols.
vi., and ix., of the Journal of the American Oriental Society); and the posthumous Trans lation of the Veda. with Commentary (1904). With Roth he edited the At/tarn/ Veda (1856), besides which he made noteworthy con tributions to the Sanskrit Dictionary of B6htlingk and Roth (Saint Petersburg, 1852-7(i), and on Index to the Published Text of the dtbama Veda (1881). Be was editor-in-chief of the Century Dictionary. A complete bibliog raphy of his writings is given in the nineteenth volume of the Journal of the Oriental Society (.New Haven, 1897), a memorial in his honor.