Morris Swadesh
Morris Swadesh (born January 22, 1909 in Holyoke , Massachusetts , † July 20, 1967 in Mexico City ) was an American linguist .
Morris Swadesh was the son of Russian immigrants of the Jewish faith. He studied at the University of Chicago and Yale University , where he also received his PhD. During World War II, he worked on military projects.
In May 1949, Swadesh, who worked at the City College of New York , was fired on charges of being a communist. In 1954 he was appointed professor at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico City , where he remained until his death.
Swadesh is the creator of traditional glottochronology . His test lists designed for this purpose are often called Swadesh lists (see web links). He dealt with Indian languages. One of his students was Floyd Lounsbury .
Web links
- Morris Swadesh: Critical Essay
- Short biography. Archived from the original on June 3, 2010 ; Retrieved January 26, 2014 .
Swadesh lists:
- Swadesh lists by language families compiled at Wiktionary (en)
- Swadesh lists sorted by language at Wiktionary (en)
- Swadesh lists sorted by language on Wikipedia (fr)
- Rosetta Project with Swadesh lists for different languages
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Swadesh, Morris |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American linguist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 22, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Holyoke |
| DATE OF DEATH | 20th July 1967 |
| Place of death | Mexico city |