Thomas Becker (Germanist)

Thomas Becker (born August 2, 1955 in Munich , † August 31, 2014 in Rethymno , Crete ), full name: Thomas Hans Becker , was a German specialist in German . He taught at the University of Rostock and at the University of Bamberg .

Life

Thomas Becker was the son of Hans Becker and his wife Brigitte Becker. In 1974 he completed his Abitur at the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich and began to study German and theoretical linguistics , logic and philosophy of science at the University of Munich . In 1975/1976 his studies were interrupted by the civil service and in 1980/1981 he studied at the University of Edinburgh , then again in Munich. He completed his studies in 1983 with the degree of Magister artium .

In the same year the University employed Becker as a research assistant . The University doctorate him in 1988 summa cum laude for Doctor Phil. based on his dissertation Analogy and Morphological Theory . Appointed assistant in 1992, he was promoted to senior assistant three years later. In that year, 1995, he also received his habilitation in German linguistics , for which he had written the work Das Vokalsystem der Deutschen Standardsprache .

After completing his habilitation, Becker initially held visiting professorships. In 1996 he worked at the University of Stuttgart , in 2000 at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and at the University of Calgary . He went to the University of Erlangen in 2002 and the University of Georgia the next year . In 1998 he also became an advisory board member of the German Society for Linguistics , which he stayed for two years.

In 2002, the University of Rostock appointed Becker professor for German studies to succeed Dieter Nerius (* 1935). He worked there at the Faculty of Philosophy . In 2004 he was appointed both as director of the German Institute and as a faculty council. He held office at Rostock University until 2005, when he was succeeded by Karl Heinz Ramers . In 2005 the University of Bamberg appointed him to the chair for German linguistics.

Becker belonged to the following societies: The German Society for Linguistics , the German Association of Germanists , the Society for Germanic Linguistics , the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas and the International Association for Germanic Linguistics and Literature .

Becker died in an accident in Rethymno (Crete). He was married and has two children.

Publications (selection)

• Analogy and morphological theory . Fink, Munich 1990, ISBN 978-3770526277 .
• The vocal system of the German standard language . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, ISBN 978-3631334607 .

Web links

• Entry on Thomas Becker in the Catalogus Professorum Rostochiensium
• Bibliography by Thomas Becker on uni-bamberg.de