Hans Kurath (13 December 1891 – 2 January 1992) 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 ...
of Austrian origin. He was full professor for English and Linguistics at the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. The many varieties of regional
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
that he encountered during his trips convinced him of the necessity of completing a systematic study of
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
.
In 1926, he convinced the
Modern Language Association to begin planning for the project, and in 1931, a pilot study of the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
region was initiated under his direction, eventually producing the ''
Linguistic Atlas of New England
The ''Linguistic Atlas of New England'' (LANE), edited by Hans Kurath in collaboration with Miles L. Hanley, Bernard Bloch, Guy S. Lowman, Marcus L. Hansen and Julia Bloch, is a book of linguistic maps describing the dialects of New England in t ...
''. It soon became clear, however, that the undertaking was too complex to be completed by a single team of linguists. The project was thus expanded to eight additional regional operations.
Kurath guided the vision and goals of the regional projects for three decades and oversaw the publication of a series of volumes that are known collectively as the ''Linguistic Atlas of the United States'', the first
linguistic atlas
A linguistic map is a thematic map showing the geographic distribution of the speakers of a language, or isoglosses of a dialect continuum of the same language, or language family. A collection of such maps is a linguistic atlas.
The earliest s ...
of the US. For that work, he received the
Loubat Prize The Loubat Prize was a pair of prizes awarded by Columbia University every five years between 1898 and 1958 for the best social science works in the English language about North America.
The awards were established and endowed by Joseph Florimond, ...
.
He was also the first main editor of the ''
Middle English Dictionary
''The Middle English Dictionary'' is a dictionary of Middle English published by the University of Michigan. "Its 15,000 pages offer a comprehensive analysis of lexicon and usage for the period 1175–1500, based on the analysis of a collection of ...
''. Together with
Raven I. McDavid, Jr., he also published a linguistic atlas of the
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...
, ''The Pronunciation of English in the Atlantic States''.
Life
Kurath was born in
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. He emigrated to the US in 1907 and became a
US citizen
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
in 1912. He studied at the Universities of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. He did his Ph.D. in 1920. Afterwards, he became professor in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
(1920–1927) and then professor for German and Linguistics at the
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
(1927–1931) and
Brown University (1931–1946).
In 1946, he became Full Professor for English and Linguistics at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, Ann Arbor (1946–1962). In 1941, he was 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 1959, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Chicago.
He died in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the age of 100. His wife was the dance ethnologist
Gertrude Prokosch Kurath
Gertrude Prokosch Kurath (1903–1992) was an American dancer, researcher, author, and ethnomusicologist. She researched and wrote extensively on the study of dance, co-authoring several books and writing hundreds of articles. Her main areas of ...
.
Methodology
Kurath's chief research interest was historical linguistics and his primary goal was to use the ''Linguistic Atlas'' to reconstruct the evolution of American English from the relatively "pure" forms of English brought to the United States by the early settlers to the regional dialects that existed in the contemporary United States. Kurath was convinced that language held a living record of events like the growth of trade and transport systems, urbanization, and population movements. By plotting regional differences in vocabulary and pronunciation on maps, Kurath and other researchers assembled what they hoped was a visual record of the social processes that had transformed American English over the past 200 years.
Each regional operation used similar techniques: a small team of linguists fanned out across the region interviewing at least two people in every county. Kurath gave the researchers explicit instructions about the types of informants who were considered appropriate for the project. In every town or city selected for the project, at least two people would be chosen, one had to be "old-fashioned and unschooled," Kurath suggested a farmer or a farmer's wife, and the other should be "a member of the middle class who has had the benefit of a grade-school or high-school education" (Kurath 1949: v). The communities themselves were also carefully screened. Kurath placed a priority on towns that were early American settlements or could be directly linked to them through historical records.
Selected bibliography
*''Linguistic Atlas of New England'', 3 vols., New York 1939–1943
*''Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England'', Providence 1939
*''A Word Geography of the Eastern United States'', Ann Arbor 1949
*''Middle English Dictionary'' (main editor), Ann Arbor 1946-1962
*''The Pronunciation of English in the Atlantic States'' (with Raven I. McDavid, Jr.), Ann Arbor 1961
Sources
*Bailey, Richard W. (1992), "Hans Kurath", ''Language'' 68: 797-808.
Brown, Nina: "Hans Kurath: Linguistic Atlas of the United States", Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science.*Encyclopædia Britannica, s.v. Hans Kurath
*Schneider, Edgar (1992): "In memoriam Hans Kurath". ''English World-Wide'' 13: 111 – 113.
*Stammerjohann, Harro et al. (eds.) (1996), ''Lexicon grammaticorum: Who's Who in the History of World Linguistics'', Tübingen: Niemeyer, s.v. Kurath, Hans.
External links
Picture*
Linguistic Atlas ProjectsAmerican Dialect Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurath, Hans
1891 births
1992 deaths
Linguists from the United States
American centenarians
Men centenarians
American lexicographers
Sociolinguists
University of Michigan faculty
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States
University of Texas at Austin alumni
Linguistic Society of America presidents
20th-century linguists
Brown University faculty
20th-century lexicographers