Benloew uses the comparative study of grammar and vocabulary to identify relationships between languages and to classify them into families.In this second edition (1872) of his best-known work, Benloew uses the comparative study of grammar and vocabulary to classify languages into families. Not all of his conclusions are still accepted, but his work provides interesting insights into linguistic research in the mid-nineteenth century.In this second edition (1872) of his best-known work, Benloew uses the comparative study of grammar and vocabulary to classify languages into families. Not all of his conclusions are still accepted, but his work provides interesting insights into linguistic research in the mid-nineteenth century.The German-born philologist Louis Benloew (18181900) studied at Berlin, Leipzig and G?ttingen before settling in France. Aper?u g?n?ral de la science comparative des langues (first published in 1858) is his best-known work. In this second edition of 1872, which includes his own further research on the Celtic languages, he uses the comparative study of grammar and vocabulary to identify relationships between languages and to classify them into families. Not all of his conclusions - especially those connecting the so-called Japhetic (i.e. Indo-European) family to the Semitic languages - are still accepted, but the ambitious scope of his work and the range of his world-wide comparisons provide a useful insight into the state of linguistic research in the mid-nineteenth century.Pr?face; 1. D?finition de la grammaire compar?e; 2. De l'enchainement naturel des sciences; 3. Du but de la grammaire compar?e et de son utilit?; 4. Origine du langage; 5. Quelques autres carat?res des langues primitives; 6. D?veloppment des langues normales; 7. Loi supreme des langues civilis?es; 8. Classification des langues; 9. Zones du langage humain; 10. Observations critiques sur l'affinit? et l'identit? des langues; 11. L'identit? des racines et du syst?me grammatical;lc,