Alan Stewart Duthie (19 May 1938 - 6 July 2013) was a Scottish

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

who settled and worked in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

all his adult life. He was a pioneer in linguistics at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. Ghanaia ...

for 49 years.

Early life and education

Alan Duthie was raised in Downfield area of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. His secondary school education at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...

. He obtained a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA) in History of

Greek Language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...

, non-dramatic Greek Poetry, Hebrew and

Moral Philosophy Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

at the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

between 1956 and 1960. He then went on to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

where he completed a postgraduate Diploma in General Linguistics. He continued his

postgraduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

where he graduated in 1964 with a Ph. D. in Linguistics. While working at the University of Ghana, he was an external student of the

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

, obtaining a degree in

Divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

Academic career

Alan Duthie joined the Phonetics Unit in the Department of English at the University of Ghana, Legon in November 1964. He became part of the team of Linguists who developed the unit into the Department of Linguistics. The others were Mrs McCallien, Lindsay Criper, along with a Ghanaian, Lawrence Boadi. Helmut Truteneau and another Ghanaian, Florence Dolphyne joined later. Duthie was the first lecturer to be appointed directly to the department in 1964. He was key in building up the department to run both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. During the economic depression in the early 1980s, he and Florence Dolphyne were instrumental in maintaining the department. He had two spells as the head of the Linguistics Department. The first was between 1986 and 1989 and then also from 1991 to 1993. The courses he taught include

Phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural Norm (sociology), norms, expectations, and context (language use), context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on languag ...

English Phonology Like many other languages, English has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect. In general, however, the regional dialects of English share a largely similar (but not identical) phonological system. Among ...

, English Syntax and

Semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy Philosophy (f ...

, Theory of Translation, Seminar in Semantics, and Linguistics of Ewe. He also has many publications to his name. At the time of his death, he was reputed to have taught and mentored many who later became academic members of staff of the Department of Linguistics with the exception of the younger ones. He was at his office on the day before his death.

Felix Ameka Felix Ameka (1957) is a linguist working on the intersection of grammar, meaning and culture. His empirical specialisation is on West-African languages. He is currently professor of Ethnolinguistic Diversity and Vitality at Leiden University and ...

, a linguist who specialises in West African languages is one of his former students at the University of Ghana.

Religious activities

Duthie taught Bible Translation,

New Testament Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

and

Old Testament Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...

at the Maranatha Bible College at Sowutuom in Accra. He was involved in organising workshops of the

Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation The Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) is an organisation involved in literacy, education and development projects in minority language communities in Ghana, as well as Bible translation work. History GILLBT gre ...

. He was also one of the co-founders of the Legon Interdenominational Church. He has been the editor of the ''Daily Guide'', which is the daily Bible reading notes published by the

Scripture Union Scripture Union (SU) is an international, interdenominational, evangelical Christian organization. It was founded in 1867, and works in partnership with individuals and churches across the world. The organization's stated aim is to use the Bible t ...

in Ghana.

Other work

Alan Duthie served as an examiner for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

in Ghana.

Family

Alan was the only child of Stewart Duthie and Evelyn Mary Greig. His childhood home was in the Downfield area of Dundee. He settled in Ghana and eventually married a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

lady, Matilda in 1993. They had one son, David. He lived in Ghana all his working life but regularly returned to his childhood home.

Death

He fell ill on 5 July 2013 following a stomach ailment and was admitted to the Legon Hospital where he died the next day.

Honours

*''Alan S. Duthie Graduate Wing'' - This wing on the first floor of the De Graft Hanson Building is for the use of postgraduate linguistics students of the Department of Linugistics at the University of Ghana.

Publications

* * * * * * * (''first published in 1988 by KPI Limited in association with the International African Institute'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duthie, Alan Stewart 1938 births 2013 deaths Linguists Linguists from the United Kingdom Linguists from Ghana University of Ghana faculty People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Manchester Ghanaian people of Scottish descent Deaths from digestive disease