Hansjakob Seiler
Hansjakob Seiler (born December 16, 1920 in Munich ; † August 13, 2018 in Lucerne ) was a Swiss linguist .
Career
As a student of Classical Philology in Zurich (1940–1947) Hansjakob Seiler began to scan the horizon of linguistics. First he dealt with the ancient Indo-European languages, u. a. the Sanskrit and the Old Iranian . Soon he turned to the modern languages of Europe, especially modern Greek . In Paris (1947–1950) he familiarized himself with the theoretical foundations of French structuralism. In the overseas institutes of the University of Hamburg (1950–1953 and 1955–1959) his interest in non-European languages was aroused.
During several years in the USA, first as a Rockefeller Fellow (1953–1955), then as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford , California (1965–1966) and as a visiting professor, he learned about the different types of American structuralism as well know its negation through generative grammar. He drew a lasting profit from those years from several field research on American Indian languages (1955, 1964–1965, 1971). For Cahuilla (7 to 20 speakers in 1994), which is spoken in southern California and is acutely threatened with extinction , he wrote a grammar, a dictionary and a collection of texts with an English translation. Experience with the languages of the world and many years of preoccupation with questions of language theory formed the basis for Seiler's most important contribution to linguistics: the UNITYP project .
From 1959 to 1986 Hansjakob Seiler held the chair for general and comparative linguistics at the University of Cologne . After his retirement (1986), he returned to Switzerland and settled in Lenzburg , where he continued to work on the issues of universality in language.
Memberships and honors: Member of the Société Linguistique de Paris (since 1947); Member of the Linguistic Society of America (Life Member); Member of the International Association of Semiotic Studies; Member of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (1980 President); Honorary member of the Swiss Linguistic Society; corresponding member of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften ; Correspondant étranger de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (since 1991), Institut de France , Paris; Member of the Academia Europaea , London; Honorary doctorates from the Universities of Leuven and Paris VII .
Publications
- Language Universals Research. A synthesis. Narr, Tübingen 2000, ISBN 3-8233-4780-2 (results of his lifelong research).
literature
- Jacques François, Pierre Swiggers: Hansjakob Seiler. Notice Bio-Bibliographique. Center International de Dialectologie Générale, Leuven 2008 (detailed appraisal with curriculum vitae, course of research, complete biography up to 2008 and two original articles).
Web links
- Literature by and about Hansjakob Seiler in the catalog of the German National Library
- Hansjakob Seiler at the Institute for Linguistics at the University of Cologne
- Seiler Collection, Aargau Cantonal Library
- Hansjakob Seiler's website with information about his research and the project
UNITYP
- Florian Meyer: On the death of the linguist Hansjakob Seiler (16.12.1920-13.08.2018). Obituary on the website of the University of Cologne on August 17, 2018 (PDF).
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Seiler, Hansjakob |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss linguist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 16, 1920 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Munich |
| DATE OF DEATH | 13th August 2018 |
| Place of death | Lucerne |