Arthur Capell (28 March 1902 – 10 August 1986) was an Australian

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. Lingu ...

, who made major contributions to the study of

Australian languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

, Austronesian languages and

Papuan languages The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non- Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogr ...

Early life

Capell was born in

Newtown, New South Wales Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west, is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Inner West Council in the state of New So ...

in 1902, the only child of Sarah Ann (née Scott) and her husband, Henry Capell. He attended North Sydney Boys' High School.

Career

Capell graduated from the

Sydney Teachers' College The Sydney Teachers' College was a tertiary education institution that trained school teachers in Sydney, Australia. It existed from 1906 until the end of 1981, when it became the Sydney Institute of Education, a part of the new Sydney College ...

in Modern Languages in 1922 and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

in the same year as the University medallist in Classics. He taught in high schools for three years at Canterbury Boys' Intermediate High and

Tamworth High School Tamworth High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in Willis Street, South Tamworth, a suburb of the Tamworth Regional Council local government area in the New England region of New South Wa ...

. He was then ordained deacon in 1925 and priest in 1926 in the

Church of England in Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...

. He worked in Newcastle for a decade, as Curate, St Peter's,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

(1926–28); Priest-in-Charge, All Saints, Belmont (1928–29); as a teacher at Broughton School for Boys in Newcastle (1929–32), where he was introduced to the anthropologist and priest

A. P. Elkin Adolphus Peter Elkin (27 March 1891 – 9 July 1979) was an Anglican clergyman, an influential Australian anthropologist during the mid twentieth century and a proponent of the assimilation of Indigenous Australians. Early life Elkin was born ...

; and as Curate to Elkin at

St James' Church, Morpeth St James the Great, or St James' Church, is a Grade II* listed church in Morpeth, Northumberland. The entrance screen which allows access to the churchyard from Newgate Street is also separately Grade II* listed. The church is still used for se ...

(1932–35). He pursued his linguistic studies privately, but went on to obtain an

M.A. 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 ...

in Classics at the University of Sydney (1931). Encouraged by Elkin, he undertook a doctoral programme at the

University of London 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 degr ...

in 1935, and graduating the following year with a Ph.D. from the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ...

, with a thesis on ''The linguistic position of south-eastern Papua'', which was published in book form in 1943. His primary interest was the languages of the Pacific and of New Guinea, and he is said to have regarded his research of aboriginal languages to be a matter of weekend work, though he did spend lengthy periods doing fieldwork in both the Kimberleys and

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

. When Elkin, then the Anglican rector at Morpeth, was appointed to a professorship in anthropology at Sydney, Capell served as his

locum tenens A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy. For example, a ''locum tenens physician'' is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician. ...

in the parish. On vacations back in Morpeth, Elkin was impressed by Capell's linguistic gifts, and eventually arranged a lectureship in linguistics for him in 1945. He was appointed reader in 1948, and remained in that position until retirement in 1967. He was made an honorary canon of

Ss Peter and Paul Cathedral, Dogura Ss Peter and Paul Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Dogura, Papua New Guinea. It was consecrated in 1939, just after the outbreak of WWII. It is the seat of the Bishop of Dogura in the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. History of the Do ...

in 1956. Notwithstanding his extensive work on Papuan and Polynesian languages, including dictionaries of Fijian, Palauan and Western Futuna, Capell managed to make important contributions to Australian linguistics, particularly in discovering typologically distinct north-western languages which could not be assimilated to the standard Pama-Nyungan language family.

Personal life

Capell was fond of punning, an example being his pronunciation of

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, linguistics and comput ...

as "some antics". When his housekeeper fell ill, he hired another to care for her and, when the second in turn fell ill, Capell looked after both of them. He died in 1986, aged 84. He was unmarried.

Legacy

The

awards an annual prize in Capell's name for an essay on Australian and Pacific Linguistics. The

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

holds the Capell Collection of Solomon Islands Photographs. Capell's records have been digitised and deposited with the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "maint ...

. In some cases, his papers are the only surviving record of lost languages. Capell House at Northholm Grammar School, Arcadia is named after him.

Bibliography

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Notes

References

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External links

Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources - Arthur Capell (1902-1986)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capell, Arthur 1902 births 1986 deaths Linguists from Australia Linguists of Australian Aboriginal languages Linguists of Austronesian languages Linguists of Papuan languages Paleolinguists 20th-century linguists