The fate of form in the Humboldtian tradition: The Formungstrieb of Georg von der Gabelentz

•We offer an exposition of Georg von der Gabelentz' notion of the Formungstrieb.•We demonstrate that the Formungstrieb was a reaction to H. Steinthal's psychologistic interpretation of Humboldtian form.•We show that Gabelentz sought to place renewed emphasis on the aesthetic dimension of form.•We identify August Friedrich Pott, Hans Conon von der Gabelentz and William Dwight Whitney as significant influences on Gabelentz.

The multifaceted concept of ‘form’ plays a central tole in the linguistic work of Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835), where it is deeply entwined with aesthetic questions. H. Steinthal's (1823–1899) interpretation of linguistic form, however, made it the servant of psychology. The Formungstrieb (drive to formation) of Georg von der Gabelentz (1840–1893) challenged Steinthal's conception and placed a renewed emphasis on aesthetics. In this endeavour, Gabelentz drew on the work of such figures as August Friedrich Pott (1802–1887), Hans Conon von der Gabelentz (1807–1874) and William Dwight Whitney (1827–1894). In this paper, we examine Gabelentz' Formungstrieb and place it in its historical context.