George Dalgarno

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George Dalgarno (1626-1687) was a Scottish intellectual interested in linguistic problems. Originally from Aberdeen, he later worked in Oxford in collaboration with John Wilkins, although the two parted company intellectually in 1659. Dalgarno is the author of Didascalocophus or the Deaf and Dumb man’s tutor (1680), which proposed a totally new linguistic system for use by deaf mutes. The system is still used in the United States. [1]

Dalgarno was also interested in constructing what he called a 'philosophical language', now more usually referred to as universal language. A modern translation of his Ars signorum (Art of Signs, 1661) was published in 2001 in an edition that also includes his autobiography and other manuscript writings.

Bibliography

David Cram and Jaap Maat, eds., George Dalgarno on Universal Language: The Art of Signs (1661), The Deaf and Dumb Man's Tutor (1680), and the Unpublished Papers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).