Heymann Steinthal

German linguist

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July 14, 2026

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Heymann Steinthal was a 19th-century German philologist and statesman. He was influenced by Wilhelm von Humboldt's theories on language, particularly the concept of "inner" and "outer" form. Steinthal took Humboldt's idea that language is a dynamic activity, rather than a static product, and explored its connection to the psychology of language. This perspective influenced later linguists like Wilhelm Wundt and Ferdinand de Saussure, and its full implications were later emphasized by Noam Chomsky in generative grammar.1

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Moritz Lazarus
Steinthal, the journal Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft (1859). His chief philosophical work is Das Leben der Seele, 3 vol. (1855–57; “The Life of the Soul”).
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Steinthal, the journal Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft (1859). His chief philosophical work is Das Leben der Seele, 3 vol. (1855–57; “The Life of the Soul”).
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linguistics
Inner and outer form
…up by a German philologist, Heymann Steinthal, and, what is more important, by the physiologist and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, and thus influenced late 19th- and early 20th-century theories of the psychology of language. Its influence, like that of the distinction of inner and outer form, can also be seen in…
Read More
…up by a German philologist, Heymann Steinthal, and, what is more important, by the physiologist and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, and thus influenced late 19th- and early 20th-century theories of the psychology of language. Its influence, like that of the distinction of inner and outer form, can also be seen in…
Read More