Robbins Burling (April 18, 1926 – January 2, 2021) was an American professor of
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
and
sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural Norm (sociology), norms, expectations, and context (language use), context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on languag ...
.
Early life and career
Burling was born in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
to Dr. F. Temple and Katherine White Burling, and was the eldest of three siblings. He received his undergraduate degree from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1950 and his Ph.D in Anthropology 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 high ...
in 1958. His teaching career began as a teaching fellow in Anthropology at Harvard University in the fall of 1953, the spring of 1954 and the spring of 1957.
Burling was an instructor at the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
from 1957-1959. He became an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania from 1959-1963. From 1959-1963 he was the Assistant Curator of General Ethnology at the University Museum.
From 1959-1960, Burling was a visiting lecturer, Fulbright Program, in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the
University of Rangoon,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. He became an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Associate of the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies 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 ...
from 1966-1995. Dr. Burling was professor emeritus of Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Michigan.
Burling specialized in language, human evolution and comprehension in communication. He has researched extensively in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Books
His books include ''Hill Farms and Padi Fields: Life in Mainland Southeast Asia'', ''English in Black and White'', ''The Passage of Power: Studies in Political Succession,'' ''The Strong Women of Madhupur'' (1997) and ''The Talking Ape: How Language Evolved''.
Festschrift
On the occasion of Robbins Burling's 90th birthday,
Festschriftwas presented to him following his plenary lecture at the 8th International Conference of the North East Indian Linguistics Society (NEILS) at
Tezpur University
Tezpur University is a Central University located in Tezpur in the North-Eastern state of Assam, India, established by an act of Parliament, in 1994.
History
The establishment of Tezpur University is considered to be one of the outcomes of t ...
in Assam, India. The editors' introduction contains a longer overview of Burling's life and work, as well as a comprehensive bibliography of Burling's publications (as of 2015).
Personal life
Shortly after finishing college, Burling married Sibyl (née Straub). Together they had three children: Stephen, Helen (Nono), and Adele.
On January 2, 2021, Burling died at the age of 94 in his home in
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.
References
External links
''Popular Science'' review of ''The Talking Ape''Language and Culture in Northeast India: In Honor of Robbins Burling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burling, Robbins
1926 births
2021 deaths
Writers from Minneapolis
Linguists from the United States
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Harvard University faculty
University of Michigan faculty
University of Pennsylvania faculty
Yale University alumni
Academic staff of the University of Yangon