Hans Kurath

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans Kurath (born December 13, 1891 in Villach , † January 2, 1992 in Ann Arbor ) was an American linguist of Austrian origin. He is best known as author of the first American Sprachatlasses , the Linguistic Atlas of New England , as the initiator of the American Linguistic Atlas Project (LAP) and the first editor in chief of the Middle English Dictionary .

Life

Kurath emigrated to the USA in 1907 and became an American citizen in 1912 . He studied at the universities of Texas and Chicago . He completed his doctorate in 1920.

He then taught as Professor German at Northwestern University (1920–1927), then as Professor German and Linguistics at Ohio State University (1927–31) and at Brown University (1931–1946). Eventually he became Professor of English and Linguistics at the University of Michigan , Ann Arbor (1946–1962).

In 1933 Kurath was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1941 he was President of the Linguistic Society of America . In 1948 he received the Loubat Prize for Linguistic Atlas of New England . In 1959 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Chicago .

Scientific interests

Works (selection)

  • Linguistic Atlas of New England , 3 vols., New York, 1939-43
  • Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England , Providence, 1939
  • A Word Geography of the Eastern United States , Ann Arbor, 1949
  • Editor-in-chief of the first volumes of the Middle English Dictionary , 1946-1962, Ann Arbor.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kurath, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American linguist
DATE OF BIRTH December 13, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Villach , Austria
DATE OF DEATH 2nd January 1992
Place of death Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA