Editing William Jones (philologist) (section)

== Early life ==
William Jones was born in London; his father [[William Jones (mathematician)|William Jones]] (1675–1749) was a mathematician from [[Anglesey]] in Wales, noted for introducing the use of the symbol [[pi|π]]. The young William Jones was a [[multilingualism|linguistic prodigy]], who in addition to his native languages English and Welsh,{{sfn|Anthony|2010|p=7}} learned [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and the basics of Chinese writing at an early age.{{sfn|Said|1978|p=77}} By the end of his life, he knew eight languages with critical thoroughness.{{sfn|Edgerton|2002|p=10}}

Jones's father died when he was aged three, and his mother Mary Nix Jones raised him. He was sent to [[Harrow School]] in September 1753 and then went on to [[University College, Oxford]]. He graduated there in 1768 and became M.A. in 1773. Financially constrained, he took a position tutoring the seven-year-old [[George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer|Lord Althorp]], son of [[John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer|Earl Spencer]]. For the next six years, he worked as a tutor and translator. During this time he published ''Histoire de Nader Chah'' (1770), a French translation of a work originally written in Persian by [[Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi]]. This was done at the request of King [[Christian VII of Denmark]]: he had visited Jones, who by the age of 23 had already acquired a reputation as an [[oriental studies|orientalist]], and in appreciation of his work he was granted membership in the [[Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shore |first1=John |title=Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Correspondence of Sir William Jones |date=1815 |publisher=Hatchard |page=52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVtVAAAAcAAJ&dq=sir+william+jones&pg=PR19 |language=en}}</ref> This would be the first of numerous works on [[Persia]], [[Anatolia]], and the Middle East in general.

[[File:W.jones.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Tomb of William Jones in [[South Park Street Cemetery]], [[Kolkata]].]]