Erik Alfred Torbjörn "Björn" Collinder (22 July 1894 – 20 May 1983) was a Swedish
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 was Professor of
Finno-Ugric Languages
Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ...
at
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
The university rose to significance during ...
.
Biography
Collinder was born in
Sundsvall
Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population.
History
The ...
, Sweden on 22 July 1894. After gaining a
licentiate in
Nordic philology
Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining ...
at
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
The university rose to significance during ...
, Colinder developed a strong interest in
Finno-Ugric languages
Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ...
. Since 1929, Collinder was a
docent
The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...
in Finno-Ugric languages at Uppsala University. He subsequently succeeded his mentor
K.B. Wiklund as Professor of Finno-Ugric Languages at Uppsala University. Collinder retired as
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
in 1961, and was succeeded by his protégé
Bo Wickman.
Collinder specialized in the
Germanic loanwords in
Finnic and
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
. He was a highly productive author of scholarly literature, and also conducted fieldwork among the
Sámi people
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...
. He is also noted as the translator of a number of works, including
Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
, the
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...
, the
Kalevala
The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and ...
, and many of the works of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. Under the initials Bj. C., he was the author of a large number of entries in ''
Svensk uppslagsbok
''Svensk uppslagsbok'' is a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1929 and 1955, in two editions.
First edition
The first edition was started in 1929 by ''Baltiska förlaget AB'', but publishing was taken over by ''Svensk uppslagsbok AB'' in 1 ...
''. His
magnum opus, ''Comparative Grammar of the Uralic Languages'', has remained the standard work on
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian ...
up to the present day.
Collinder was a member of a large number of scholarly organizations. This includes Member of the
Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy
The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy ( sv, Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien) in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. The name is often expanded to ("...for Swedish Folk Culture").
The Academ ...
(1936), the
Royal Society of the Humanities at Uppsala (1936), the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. Its ma ...
(1937), the
Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (1941), the
Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademin abbreviated KVHAA ( sv, Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien Historie och Antikvitets Akademien or or ) is the Swedish roy ...
(1943), the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway.
History
The Royal Frederick Unive ...
(1945), the
Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala (1951), the
Finno-Ugrian Society, the
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
{{Infobox organization
, name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
, full_name =
, native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab
, native_name_lang =
, logo = Royal ...
(1951), and a Corresponding Member of the
Finnish Literature Society
The Finnish Literature Society ( fi, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura ry or fi, SKS) was founded in 1831 to promote literature written in Finnish. Among its first publications was the ''Kalevala
The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th ...
(1941) and the
Austrian Academy of Sciences (1966).
Collinder died in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Austria on 20 May 1983.
Personal life
Collinder was the husband of Swedish soprano
Britta Norrby-Collinder, and the brother of the famous astronomer
Per Collinder.
Selected works
* 1929. ''Über den finnisch-lappischen Quantitätswechsel I.'' Uppsala.
* 1934. ''Indo-uralisches Sprachgut.'' Uppsala.
* 1938. ''Lautlehre des waldlappischen dialektes von Gällivare.'' Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen Seura. (= ''Mémoires de la Société finno-ougrienne'' 74.)
* 1939. ''Reichstürkische Lautstudien.'' Uppsala.
* 1940. ''Jukagirisch und Uralisch.'' Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.
* 1943. ''Lappisches Wörterverzeichnis aus Härjedalen.'' Uppsala.
* 1947. ''La parenté linguistique et le calcul des probabilités.'' Uppsala.
* 1949. ''The Lapps.'' New York: Princeton University Press for the American Scandinavian Foundation.
* 1949. ''The Lappish Dialect of Jukkasjärvi: A Morphological Survey.'' Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksell.
* 1954. ''Scandinavica et fenno-ugrica.'' Almqvist & Wiksell.
* 1955. ''Fenno-Ugric Vocabulary: An Etymological Dictionary of the Uralic Languages.'' (Collective work.) Stockholm: Almqvist & Viksell. (Second, revised edition: Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag, 1977.)
* 1957. ''Survey of the Uralic Languages.'' (Collective work.) Stockholm: Almqvist & Viksell.
* 1957. ''Den Poetiska Eddan.'' Örebro: Forum.
* 1960. ''Comparative Grammar of the Uralic Languages.'' Stockholm: Almqvist & Viksell.
* 1964. ''Ordbok till Sveriges lapska ortnamn.'' Uppsala.
* 1964. ''The Kalevala and Its Background.'' Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
* 1964. ''Sprachverwandschaft und Wahrscheinlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften neu veröffentlicht zum 70. Geburtstag des Verfassers 22. Juli 1964 zusammen mit einer Bibliographie der Werke von Björn Collinder 1921-1964.'' Uppsala.
* 1965. ''An Introduction to the Uralic Languages.'' Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press
* 1965. ''Hat das Uralische Verwandte ? Eine sprachvergleichende Untersuchung.'' Uppsala
* 1968. ''Kritische Bemerkungen zum saussure'schen Cours de linguistique générale.'' Uppsala.
* 1970. ''Noam Chomsky und die generative Grammatik. Eine kritische Betrachtung.'' Uppsala.
* 1977. ''Svensk ordnyckel med förkortningslexikon.'' Brunna: Förlagshuset Fyris AB.
* 1978. ''Sprache und Sprachen. Einführung in die Sprachwissenschaft.'' Hamburg: Buske.
* 1983. ''Stora ordboken. Svensk ordnyckel.'' Liber.
See also
*
Stig Wikander
Oscar Stig Wikander (27 August 1908 – 20 December 1983) was a Swedish Indologist, Iranologist and religious scientist.
Biography
Stig Wikander was born in Norrtälje, Sweden on 27 August 1908, the son of a pharmacist. After graduating from h ...
*
Geo Widengren
*
Henrik Samuel Nyberg
Sources
*
External links
*
Photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collinder, Bjorn
1894 births
1983 deaths
Finno-Ugrists
Linguists from Sweden
Linguists of Uralic–Yukaghir languages
Linguists of Yukaghir languages
Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
Members of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy
Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala
Paleolinguists
People from Sundsvall
Scandinavian studies scholars
Translators of the Poetic Edda
Uppsala University alumni
Academic staff of Uppsala University
20th-century linguists