Jacques van Ginneken and Significs

Abstract

In the early 1920s, the Dutch linguist Jacques van Ginneken S. J. (1877–1945) was involved in Significs, an idealistic-linguistic movement. He joined the group despite his objections against language reform, which was a central signific goal. The curious combination of Van Ginneken’s considerable impact on the movement and the tensions between this Jesuit linguist and his co-significians, brilliant intellectuals and social idealists, calls for further analysis. In this article, Van Ginneken’s contribution to Significs and his complicated role in the movement will be discussed in some detail. Special attention will be paid to the position of Van Ginneken and the leading significians in the contemporary multi-faceted transition from linguistic psychologism to linguistic anti-psychologism. Both parties adopted a prominently psychologistic program, which entailed some shared focuses of interest. However, they combined this with very diverse anti-psychologistic elements, which widened the gap between them.