The Genius of Language

6 lectures, Stuttgart, Dec. 26, 1919 – Jan. 3, 1920 (CW 299)

To one who understands the sense of speech
The world unveils
Its image form.

To one who listens to the soul of speech
The world unfolds
Its true being.

To one who lives in the spirit depths of speech
The world gives freely
Wisdom’s strength.

To one who lovingly can dwell on speech
Speech will accord
Its inner might.

So I will turn my heart and mind
Toward the soul
And spirit of words.

In love for them
I will then feel myself
Complete and whole.

Rudolf Steiner
(translated by Hans and Ruth Pusch)

During the first year of the first Waldorf school, Rudolf Steiner agreed to give a science course to the teachers, which was to be on the nature of light. At the last minute, he was asked to give an additional course on language, which he improvised. "The Genius of Language" is the result.

Steiner demonstrates how history and psychology together form the different languages and how ideas, images, and vocabulary travel through time within various cultural streams. He describes how the power to form language has declined, but that we can still recover the seed of language, the penetration of sound by meaning.

He also explains how consonants imitate outer phenomena, whereas vowels convey a more inner sense of events; he talks about the differentiation of language as it is influenced by geography; he speaks of the "folk soul" element and the possibility of "wordless thinking"; we hear about the capacity of language to transform us and of its importance to our spiritual lives.

This is not just a course on language for those who love words but demonstrates ways to teach children. This little book will prove tremendously valuable to both educators and parents-in fact, to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of language and its significance for our lives.

This volume is a translation from German of Geisteswissenschaftlische Sprachbetrachtungen (GA 299).