Alan Bliss (1921–1985) was a noted British philologist. Much of his early work was concerned with Old and Middle English, the history of the English language, and medieval French philology (especially Anglo-Norman) and his later work with
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English (from Latin ''Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland a ...
. He was born in London, and attended
Finchley Catholic Grammar School, then
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, and then
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
. His academic career began at Oxford but he soon, 1953, gained an appointment as Chair of English at the
Royal University of Malta
The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Associatio ...
. This was followed by a professorship at the
University of Istanbul
, image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg
, image_size = 200px
, latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis
, motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü
, mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future
, established = 1453 1846 1933
...
. But In 1961 he took up an appointment in the Department of Old and Middle English at
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...
where he was to remain until the end of his career.
[Lucas, P. G. (1986). AJ Bliss-1921-1985. English World-Wide, 7(2), 267-268.]
Selected publications
* Bliss, A. J. (1984). ''English in the south of Ireland''. Language in the British isles, 135, 51.
* Bliss, A. J. (1972). Languages in contact: some problems of Hiberno-English. ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy''. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, 72, 63–82.
* Bliss, A. J. (1958). ''The metre of Beowulf''. Oxford, Blackwell.
* Bliss, Alan. (1996). ''A Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases in Current English''. Routledge, London. ISBN 0-415-05905-4
References
1921 births
1985 deaths
20th-century philologists
20th-century translators
Anglo-Saxon studies scholars
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
British expatriates in Malta
British expatriates in Turkey
British expatriates in Ireland
{{UK-academic-bio-stub