Calvert Watkins (
/ˈwɒtkɪnz/; March 13, 1933 – March 20, 2013) was an American
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
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, known for his book ''
How to Kill a Dragon
''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'' is a 1995 book about comparative Indo-European poetics by the linguist and classicist Calvert Watkins. It was first published on November 16, 1995, through Oxford University Press and is ...
''. He was a professor of
linguistics
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 the
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and after retirement went to serve as professor-in-residence at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
.
Early life
Family
Calvert Watkins was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
on March 13, 1933 to Ralph James Watkins, an
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
and government advisor,
and Willye Ward, a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
teacher who translated the personal memoirs of former Mexican president Gen.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...
. Much of Watkins's childhood was spent in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and he graduated from
Friends Seminary
Friends Seminary is an independent K-12 school in Manhattan within the landmarked district in the East Village. The oldest continuously coeducational school in New York City, Friends Seminary serves 794 students in Kindergarten through Grade 1 ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
before beginning his career at Harvard University.
Watkins's early exposure to Latin and Greek inspired him at the age of fifteen to decide to become an
Indo-Europeanist
Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...
.
Education
Watkins received his initial undergraduate degree from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1954, graduating
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
,
and his
Ph.D
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
in Linguistics in 1959.
During his time at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, Watkins also studied abroad at the
École Pratique des Hautes Études
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France, from 1954 to 1955 as well as the
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...
, School of Celtic Studies from 1957 to 1958.
Career
Harvard
In 1959, Watkins was initially appointed the position of instructor at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. He later became assistant professor in 1960, associate professor with tenure in 1962, and full professor in 1966.
In 1989 Watkins was appointed to the position of Victor. S Thomas Professor of Linguistics and Classics.
Linguists influenced by Watkins during his tenure at Harvard include
Ives Goddard
Robert Hale Ives Goddard III (born 1941) is a linguist and a curator emeritus in the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. He is widely considered the leading expert on the Algonqui ...
,
Jay Jasanoff
Jay Harold Jasanoff ( or ) is an American linguist and Indo-Europeanist, best known for his ''h2e''-conjugation theory of the Proto-Indo-European verbal system. He teaches Indo-European linguistics and historical linguistics at Harvard Universi ...
, D. Gary Miller,
Michael Silverstein
Michael Silverstein (12 September 1945 – 17 July 2020) was an American linguist. He was the Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor of anthropology, linguistics, and psychology at the University of Chicago. He was a theoretician of se ...
,
Alice Harris,
H. Craig Melchert,
Alan Nussbaum, Brent Vine,
Mark Hale
Mark Hale is an Americans, American linguistics professor now teaching at Concordia University (Montreal), Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He studies the methodology of historical linguistics as well as theoretical linguistics, I ...
,
Andrew Garrett, Joshua Katz and Benjamin Fortson.
Watkins remained dedicated to the research and development of historical linguistics throughout his entire academic and professional career. In 1982 he was a founding member of the "East Coast Indo-European Conference" in which he participated in a large majority of its annual meetings.
University of California, Los Angeles
Upon his retirement from Harvard in 2003, Watkins moved to Los Angeles, California and began teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles alongside his wife,
Stephanie Jamison.
Watkins continued to promote the importance of historical linguistics at UCLA by remaining active in the annual UCLA Indo-European Conference.
In 2013, the 25th annual conference was dedicated to the memory of Watkins.
Early published works
His doctoral dissertation at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, ''Indo-European Origins of the Celtic Verb I''. ''The Sigmatic Aorist'' (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1962), which deeply reflected the
structuralist approach of
Jerzy Kuryłowicz
Jerzy Kuryłowicz (; 26 August 1895 – 28 January 1978) was a Polish linguist who studied Indo-European languages.
Life
Born in Stanislawow, Austria-Hungary. He was a Polish historical linguist, structuralist and language theoretician, deeply i ...
, opened a fresh era of creative work in
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
comparative linguistics
Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness.
Genetic relatedness ...
and the study of the verbal system of
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
.
Watkins, in a sense, completed his contribution to this area with his ''Indogermanische Grammatik'', vol. 3, part 1: ''Geschichte der indogermanischen Verbalflexion'' (1969). Meanwhile, his work on Indo-European vocabulary and poetics yielded a large number of articles on (among others)
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
,
Anatolian
Anatolian or anatolica may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia
* Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages
* Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational institution
* Anatol ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Italic and
Indo-Iranian material, presented directly in his ''Selected Writings'' and indirectly in his book, ''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'' (Oxford University Press, 1995).
He contributed his expertise on
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
to the first edition of ''
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (''AHD'') is an American English, American dictionary of English published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. ...
'' and edited ''The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots'' ().
He also pointed out that of all the
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
,
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
is the closest match to the theorized
Proto-Indo European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
mother tongue and that Old Irish represents an extraordinary ancient language whose structure can only be compared with that of
Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit was an ancient language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It is attested in the Vedas and related literature compiled over the period of the mid- 2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE. It was orally preser ...
.
''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics''
''
How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'' was published on November 16, 1995 through
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
and attempted to establish a formulaic method of
comparative linguistics
Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness.
Genetic relatedness ...
which exemplified the importance of the poetic formula in order to better trace the development of
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...
languages by working backwards and identifying patterns from their mother language, Proto-Indo-European. The book is divided into two main halves, the first of which acts as a definition and introduction the study of Indo-European poetics which is expanded upon by implementing Watkins' idea of the "dragon-slaying myth" and defending this concept through a number of case studies involving languages connected by a common theme.
Watkins expands upon the "dragon-slaying myth" in part two of the text by offering new research into his proposed formula of "HERO SLAY SERPENT",
he also attempts to reconstruct an example of Proto-Indo-European through the comparative method of historical linguistics.
''Lingua Franca'' reviewer Marc L'Heureux commented that Watkins also implements historical evidence to favor the development of language such as the relationship between the patron and the poet.
He further opined that through the ceremonious delivery from the poet, the word choices became preserved as historical evidence of the language in question. Thus the poet was not only a wielder of great power, according to Watkins as the patron's prestige was inherently tied to the poet's prowess, but a recorder of language that has allowed for research to be conducted in order to better understand the development of ancient languages.
''How to Kill a Dragon'' received favorable acclaim and is now considered to be a definitive text which transformed the study of Indo-European poetics.
''How to Kill a Dragon'' earned Watkins the 1998 Goodwin Award for Classical Studies.
Legacy and awards
* Honorary Member of the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
(1968)
* Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
(1973)
* Member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
(1975)
* Senior Fellowship for Independent Study and Research from the
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
(1984–85)
* Corresponding Fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
(1987)
*
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions ( epig ...
, Correspondant Etranger (1990)
*
Guggenheim Fellowships
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
for demonstration of exceptional capacity for productive scholarship and exceptional creative ability in the arts in the field of linguistics (1991)
* Goodwin Award for Classical Studies for ''How to Kill a Dragon'' (1998)
* President of the
Linguistic Society of America
The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...
in 1988
* Associé Etranger, Membre de l'Institut (1999)
Death
Calvert Watkins died in his sleep at the age of 80 in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California on March 20, 2013. He was the Distinguished Professor in Residence of the Department of Classics and the Program in Indo-European Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he had moved in 2003 after retiring from Harvard University as Victor S. Thomas Professor of Linguistics and the Classics.
Published works
* "Review of Kenneth Jackson, ''Language and History in Early Britain: A Chronological Survey of the Britannic Languages, First to Twelfth Century A.D.," Language'' 30 (1954) 513–18; '' ''P. Guiraud, ''Bibliographie critique de la statistique linguistique'' rev. & completed by D. Houchin, J. Puhvel & Watkins under the direction of J. Whatmough (Utrecht, 1954). REVS: BSL L 1954,2 44–46 Cohen; Emerita XXIV 1956 187 Tovar
* "The Phonemics of Gaulish: The Dialect of Narbonensis," ''Language'' 31 (1955) 9–19
* "Preliminaries to a Historical and Comparative Analysis of the Syntax of the Old Irish Verb," ''Celtica'' 6 (1963) 1–49
* "Indo-European Metrics and Archaic Irish Verse," ''Celtica'' 6 (1963) 194–249; "Lat. ''nox'', by night. A Problem in Syntactic Reconstruction," ''Symbolae linguisticae in honorem J. Kuryłowicz'', ed. A. Heinz (Wrocław, 1965) 351–358
* "An Indo-European Construction in Greek and Latin," ''HSCP'' 71 (1966) 115–119; J. Kuryłowicz, ''Indogermanische Grammatik, III, 1. Teil : Formenlehre : Geschichte der indogermanischen Verbalflexion'' by Watkins (Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1969) REV. Paideia XXX 1975 382–386 Pisani; WZHalle XXI 1972, 1 99–102 Barschel , DLZ XCII 1971 849–851 Sternemann , Language XLVIII 1972 687–695 Wyatt
* "The Indo-European Origin of English," ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' New York: American Heritage and Houghton Mifflin, 1969) xix-xx
* "Indo-European and the Indo Europeans," ibid., 1496–502; "Indo-European Roots," ibid., 1505–50
* "A Latin-Hittite Etymology," ''Language'' 45 (1969) 235–242
* "A Further Remark of Lachmann's Law," ''HSCP'' 74 (1970) 55–65
* "On the Family of arceō, ἀρκέω, and Hittite h⌣ark-," ''HSCP'' 74 (1970) 67–74
* "An Indo-European Agricultural Term, Latin ador, Hittite h⌣at-," ''HSCP'' 77 (1973) 187–194
* "Etyma Enniana," ''HSC''P 77 (1973) 195–206
* "Latin suppus," ''JIES'' 1 (1973) 394–399
* "I.-E. Star," ''Sprache'' 20 (1974) 10–14
* "God," ''Antiquitates Indogermanicae. Studien zur indogermanischen Altertumskunde und zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte der indogermanischen Völker. Gedenkschrift für Hermann Guentert zur 25. Wiederkehr seines Todestages am 23. April 1973'', ed. M. Mayrhofer, W. Meid, B. Schlerath & R. Schmitt (Innsbruck, 1974) 101–110
* "La famille indo-européenne de grec ὄρχις. Linguistique, poétique et mythologie," ''BSL'' 70 (1975) 11–26
* "Latin ador, Hittite hat- Again. Addenda to ''HSCP'' LXXVII 187–193," ''HSCP'' 79 (1975) 181–187; "Latin iouiste et le vocabulaire religieux indo-européen," ''Mélanges offerts à E. Benveniste'' (Paris, 1975) 527–534; "La désignation indo-européenne du tabou," ''Langue, discours, société. Pour Émile Benveniste'' ed. J. Kristeva, J.C. Milner, & N. Ruwet (Paris, 1975) 208–214
* "Towards Proto-Indo-European Syntax: Problems and Pseudo-Problems," ''Chicago Linguistic Society (Parasession on diachronic syntax)'' 12.2 (1976) 305–26
* "Observations on the Nestor's Cup Inscription," ''HSCP'' 80 (1976) 25–40
* "Syntax and Metrics in the Dipylon Vase Inscription," ''Studies in Greek, Italic, and Indo-European Linguistics Offered to Leonard R. Palmer on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday June 5, 1976'', ed. Davies A. Morpurgo & W. Meid (Innsbruck, 1976) 431–441
* "À propos de μῆνις," ''BSL'' 72, 1 (1977) 187–209; "ἀνόστεος ὁν πόδα τένδει," ''Étrennes de septantaine. Travaux de linguistique et de grammaire comparée offerts à Michel Lejeune'' (Paris, 1978) 231–235
* "La désignation indo-européenne du tabou," ''Langue, discours, société. Pour Émile Benveniste'' ed. J. Kristeva, J.C. Milner, & N. Ruwet (Paris, 1975) 208–214
* "Let Us Now Praise Famous Grains," ''PAPS'' 122 (1978) 9–17; "A Greco-Hittite Etymology," ''Serta Indogermanica. Festschrift für Günter Neumann zum 60. Geburtstag'', ed. J. Tischler (Innsbruck, 1982) 455–457
* "The Language of the Trojans," ''Troy and the Trojan War. A Symposium Held at Bryn Mawr College, October, 1984'', ed. M.T. Mellink (Bryn Mawr, PA, 1986) 45–62
* "The Name of Meleager," ''O-o-pe-ro-si. Festschrift für Ernst Risch zum 75. Geburtsta''g, ed. A. Etter (Berlin, 1986) 320–328
* "Questions linguistiques de poétique, de mythologie et de pré-droit en indo-européen," ''LALIES'' 5 (1987) 3–29
* "'In the Interstices of Procedure.' Indo-European Legal Language and Comparative Law," ''Studien zum indogermanischen Wortschatz, ed. Wolfgang Meid (Innsbruck, 1987) 305–314; Studies in Memory of Warren Cowgill (1929–1985). Papers from the Fourth East Coast Indo-European Conference, Cornell University, June 6–9, 1986'' (ed.) (Berlin & New York, 1987) REVS.: Kratylos XXXV 1990 41–48 Rix; ILing XII 1987–88 188 R. Gusmani
* "New Parameters in Historical Linguistics, Philology, and Culture History," ''Language'' 65 (1989) 783–99
* "Le dragon hittite Illuyankas et le géant grec Typhôeus," ''CRAI'' (1992) 319–330; ''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'' (Oxford, 1995) REVS: CJ 1997–1998 92 (4): 417–422 Dunkel; JAOS 1997 117 (2): 397–398 Klein; Language 1997 73 (3): 637–641 Justus; CO 1996–1997 74 (3): 123 Klein; CW 1998–1999 92 (2): 175–176 Kelly; BSL 1998 93 (2): 116–130 Bader; Kratylos 2000 45: 36–46 Schlerath; CR 2000 N. S. 50 (1): 101–103 Konstan; EMC 2000 N. S. 19 (3): 399–406 Bubenik; IF 2001 106 : 282–290 Keydana
* "Greece in Italy outside Rome," ''HSCP'' 97 (1995) 35–50
* "Homer and Hittite Revisited," ''Style and Tradition: Studies in Honor of Wendell Clausen'', ed. Peter E. Knox and Clive Foss (Stuttgart, 1998) 201–211
* ''The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots'' (revised and ed.), 2nd ed. (Boston, 2000)
* "A Distant Anatolian Echo in Pindar: the Origin of the Aegis Again," ''HSCP'' 100 (2000) 1–14; "L'Anatolie et la Grèce : résonances culturelles, linguistiques et poétiques," ''CRAI'' (2000) 1143–1158
* "À la suite des perspectives tracées par Michel Lejeune: aspects du grec et du celtique," ''CRAI'' (2001) 213–223
* "An Indo-European Linguistic Area and Its Characteristics: Ancient Anatolia. Areal Diffusion as a Challenge to the Comparative Method? in ''Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Problems in Comparative Linguistics'' ed. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald & R.M.W. Dixon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001) 44–63
* "The Golden Bowl: Thoughts on the New Sappho and its Asianic Background," ''ClAnt'' 26,2 (2007) 305–325
* "The Erbessos Blues and Other Tales of the Semantics of Case and the Semantics of Love among the Western Greeks," ''La langue poétique indo-européenne : actes du colloque de travail de la Société des études indo-européennes (Indogermanische Gesellschaft, Society for Indo-European studies), Paris, 22–24 octobre 2003,'' ed. Georges-Jean Pinault and Daniel Petit (Leuven, 2006) 517–521
* "Hipponactea quaedam," ''Hesperos: Studies in Ancient Greek Poetry Presented to M. L. West on His Seventieth Birthday'', ed. Patrick J. Finglass, Christopher Collard, and Nicholas J. Richardson (Oxford, 2007) 118–125.
References
External links
*
*
Essay by Calvert Watkins on Indo-European, from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language* ''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics''
limited preview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Calvert
1933 births
2013 deaths
Linguists from the United States
Celtic studies scholars
Historical linguists
Harvard University faculty
Indo-Europeanists
Linguists of Indo-European languages
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
Fellows of the British Academy
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Linguistic Society of America presidents
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Friends Seminary alumni
Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Fellows of the Linguistic Society of America