Larry Trask
![]() | This article has multiple issues.Please helpimprove itor discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Larry Trask | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Robert Lawrence Trask 10 November 1944 Olean, New York,U.S. |
Died | 27 March 2004 Brighton,England | (aged 59)
Spouses |
|
Academic background | |
Education |
|
Thesis | Synchronic and Diachronic Studies in the Grammar of Basque(1984) |
Doctoral advisor | Charles Ernest Bazell |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Linguist |
Institutions |
|
Main interests | |
Website | The Larry Trask Archive |
Robert Lawrence Trask(10 November 1944 – 27 March 2004) was an American-British professor oflinguisticsat theUniversity of Sussex,and an authority on theBasque languageand the field ofhistorical linguistics.
Biography
[edit]Born inOlean, New York,he initially studiedchemistryin his home country, but after a brief stint in thePeace Corpshe took an interest in linguistics. He received hisdoctoratein linguistics from theUniversity of London,and thereafter taught at various universities in theUnited Kingdom.He became a professor of linguistics at the University of Sussex.
He was considered an authority on the Basque language: his bookThe History of Basque(1997) is an essential reference on diachronic Basque linguistics and probably the best introduction to Basque linguistics as a whole. He was at work compiling anetymological dictionaryof that language when he died; the unfinished work was posthumously published on the Internet byMax W. Wheeler.[1]He was also an authority onhistorical linguistics,and had written about the problem of theorigin of language. He also published two introductory books to linguistics:Language: The basics(1995) andIntroducing Linguistics(coauthored with Bill Mayblin) (2000), and several dictionaries on different topics of this science:A dictionary of grammatical terms in linguistics(1993),A dictionary of phonetics and phonology(1996),A student's dictionary of language and linguistics(1997),Key concepts in language and linguistics(1999),The dictionary of historical and comparative linguistics(2000) andThe Penguin dictionary of English grammar(2000).
Some of his other books include:
- Language Change(1994)
- Historical Linguistics(1996),ISBN0-340-60758-0
- The Penguin Guide to Punctuation(1997)
- The Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar(2000),ISBN0-14-051464-3
- Time Depth in Historical Linguistics(co-editor) (2000),ISBN1-902937-06-6
- Mind the Gaffe(2001),ISBN0-14-051476-7
- How to Write Effective Emails(2005),ISBN0-14-101719-8
References
[edit]- ^Trask, R. Larry (2008), Wheeler, Max W. (ed.),Etymological Dictionary of Basque(PDF),Falmer, UK: University of Sussex,retrieved2 March2020