Gérard Diffloth (born in

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Ch ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, 1939) is a French linguist who is known as a leading specialist in the

Austroasiatic languages The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...

. As a retired linguistics professor, he was former employed at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. He received his Ph.D. from

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 ...

, after a dissertation on the

Irula language Irula is a Dravidian language spoken by the Irulas who inhabit the area of the Nilgiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, India. It is closely related to Tamil. It is written in the Tamil script. Origins The langu ...

. He is an advocate of immersion fieldwork for linguistic research. Diffloth is known for his widely cited 1974 and 2005 classifications of the

. He is a Consulting Editor of the ''

Mon–Khmer The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...

Studies Journal''.''Mon–Khmer Studies Journal'' editors

Selected bibliography

* Diffloth, Gérard. ''A History of the Khmer Language''. n preparation * Diffloth, Gérard. ''The Dvaravati Old Mon Language and Nyah Kur''. Monic language studies, vol. 1. Bangkok, Thailand: Chulalongkorn University Print. House, 1984. * Diffloth, Gérard. ''The Wa languages''. Berkeley: Dept. of Linguistics, University of California, 1980. * Diffloth, Gérard. ''An Appraisal of Benedict's Views on Austroasiatic and Austro-Thai Relations''. Kyoto: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 1976. * Diffloth, Gérard, and Zide, Norman H. ''Austroasiatic Number Systems''. 1976. * Diffloth, Gérard. ''Proto-Mon–Khmer Final Spirants''. Kyoto: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 1976. * Diffloth, Gérard. ''The Irula Language, a Close Relative of Tamil''. Doctoral thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diffloth, Gerard University of Chicago faculty Cornell University faculty University of California, Los Angeles alumni Linguists of Austroasiatic languages Dravidologists 1939 births Living people Historical linguists