GRAZIADIO ISAIA

ASCOLI (1829–1907)  , Italian philologist; of Jewish family, was born at Gorz, and at an early age showed a marked linguistic talent . In 18J4 he published his Studii orientali e linguistici, and in 186o was appointed professor of philology at Milan . He made various learned contributions to the study of Indo-European and Semitic languages, and also of the gipsy language, but his special field was the Italian dialects . He founded the Archivio glottologico italiano in 1873, publishing in it his Saggi Ladini, and making it in succeeding years the great organ of original scholarship on this subject . He was universally recognized as the greatest authority on Italian linguistics, and his article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th ed., revised for this edition) became the classic exposition in English .