LINGUIST

Otto Jespersen

1860 - 1943

Photo of Otto Jespersen

Icon of person Otto Jespersen

Jens Otto Harry Jespersen (Danish: [ˈʌtsʰo ˈjespɐsn̩]; 16 July 1860 – 30 April 1943) was a Danish linguist who specialized in the grammar of the English language. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Otto Jespersen has received more than 250,237 page views. His biography is available in 46 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 43 in 2019). Otto Jespersen is the 39th most popular linguist (down from 21st in 2019), the 143rd most popular biography from Denmark (down from 100th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular Danish Linguist.

Otto Jespersen is most famous for his contributions to linguistics. He is credited with being the first to use the term "semantics" in a linguistic sense. He is also credited with being the first to use the term "grammar" in the sense of the study of language.

Memorability Metrics

  • 250k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 59.42

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 46

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.08

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.35

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among LINGUISTS

Among linguists, Otto Jespersen ranks 39 out of 214. Before him are Georg Friedrich Grotefend, Alexandre de Rhodes, Louis Hjelmslev, Vasily Radlov, Benjamin Lee Whorf, and Jan Baudouin de Courtenay. After him are André Martinet, Vilhelm Thomsen, Bedřich Hrozný, Friedrich August Wolf, August Leskien, and Karl Lachmann.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1860, Otto Jespersen ranks 41. Before him are Marianne von Werefkin, Vito Volterra, Mercedes of Orléans, Gustave Charpentier, James McKeen Cattell, and Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria. After him are Jules Laforgue, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, Waldemar Haffkine, Sergey Sazonov, William Kennedy Dickson, and Friedrich Naumann. Among people deceased in 1943, Otto Jespersen ranks 40. Before him are Oskar Schlemmer, Viktor Lutze, Lydia Litvyak, Luz Long, Nicholas J. Spykman, and Pavel Milyukov. After him are Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Jane Avril, Vito Cascio Ferro, Abdelaziz of Morocco, Ugo Cavallero, and Conrad Veidt.

Others Born in 1860

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Others Deceased in 1943

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In Denmark

Among people born in Denmark, Otto Jespersen ranks 143 out of 1,032. Before him are Magnus II of Sweden (1130), Gabriel Axel (1918), Wilhelm Johannsen (1857), John Louis Emil Dreyer (1852), Barthold Georg Niebuhr (1776), and Princess Charlotte of Denmark (1789). After him are Jesper Christensen (1948), Magnus, Duke of Holstein (1540), Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel (1784), Richard Møller Nielsen (1937), Giancarlo Esposito (1958), and Vilhelm Thomsen (1842).

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Among LINGUISTS In Denmark

Among linguists born in Denmark, Otto Jespersen ranks 3. Before him are Rasmus Rask (1787), and Louis Hjelmslev (1899). After him are Vilhelm Thomsen (1842), Holger Pedersen (1867), Hans Ørberg (1920), Johan Nicolai Madvig (1804), and Johan Ludvig Heiberg (1854).

Danish born Linguists

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