Michael David Fortescue (born 8 August 1946) is a British-born

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 ...

specializing in Arctic and native North American languages, including

Kalaallisut Kalaallisut may refer to: * Greenlandic language * West Greenlandic West Greenlandic ( da, vestgrønlandsk), also known as Kalaallisut, is the primary language of Greenland and constitutes the Greenlandic language, spoken by the vast majority of ...

, Inuktun, Chukchi and

Nitinaht Ditidaht (also Nitinaht, Nitinat, Southern Nootkan) or diitiidʔaaʔtx̣ is a South Wakashan (Nootkan) language spoken on the southern part of Vancouver Island. Nitinaht is related to the other South Wakashan languages, Makah and the neighboring ...

. He gained his PhD in Linguistics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1978. Fortescue is known for his reconstructions of the

Eskimo–Aleut The Eskaleut (), Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of w ...

Chukotko-Kamchatkan The Chukotko-Kamchatkan or Chukchi–Kamchatkan languages are a language family of extreme northeastern Siberia. Its speakers traditionally were indigenous hunter-gatherers and reindeer-herders. Chukotko-Kamchatkan is endangered. The Kamchatkan ...

Nivkh Nivkh or Amuric or Gilyak may refer to: * Nivkh people The Nivkh, or Gilyak (also Nivkhs or Nivkhi, or Gilyaks; ethnonym: Нивхгу, ''Nʼivxgu'' (Amur) or Ниғвңгун, ''Nʼiɣvŋgun'' (E. Sakhalin) "the people"), are an indigenous et ...

, and

Wakashan Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington (state), Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. As is ...

proto-language In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unattest ...

Education

He was educated at

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

Career

He is professor emeritus of

General Linguistics Theoretical linguistics is a term in linguistics which, like the related term general linguistics, can be understood in different ways. Both can be taken as a reference to theory of language, or the branch of linguistics which inquires into the n ...

at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and chairman of the Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen. His ''Comparative Eskimo Dictionary'', co-authored with Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan, is the standard work in its area, as is his ''Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary''. In his book ''Whiteheadian Linguistics'', Fortescue explores the possibilities of a linguistic theory based on the philosophical theories of

Alfred North Whitehead Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 – 30 December 1947) was an English mathematician and philosopher. He is best known as the defining figure of the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which today has found applicat ...

Selected works

A more complete listing is available in the

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in his honor. * 1984. ''Some Problems Concerning the Correlation and Reconstruction of Eskimo and Aleut Mood Markers.'' Institut for Eskimologi, Københavns Universitet. * 1990. ''From the Writings of the Greenlanders: Kalaallit Atuakklaannit.'' University of Alaska Press. * 1991. ''Inuktun: An Introduction to the Language of Qaanaaq, Thule.'' Institut for eskimologis skriftrække, Københavns Universitet. * 1992. Editor. ''Layered Structure and Reference in a Functional Perspective.'' John Benjamins Publishing Co. * 1994. With Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan. ''Comparative Eskimo Dictionary with Aleut Cognates.'' Alaska Native Language Center. * 1998. ''Language Relations across Bering Strait: Reappraising the Archaeological and Linguistic Evidence.'' London and New York: Cassell. * 2001. ''Pattern and Process: A Whiteheadian Perspective on Linguistics.'' John Benjamins Publishing Co. * 2002. ''The Domain of Language.'' Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. * 2005. ''Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary.'' Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. * 2007. ''Comparative Wakashan Dictionary.'' Munich: LINCOM Europa. * 2016. ''Comparative Nivkh Dictionary.'' Munich: LINCOM Europa.

References

Michael David Fortescue
University of Copenhagen

Education

Career

Selected works

References

See also