Roger Lass (born January 1, 1937) is a

historical linguist Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include: # to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages # ...

, currently an honorary professorial fellow at 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 ...

Career

He earned his PhD from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1965 in Medieval English Language and Literature, and subsequently worked at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

(1964–1971), the University of Edinburgh (1972–1982), and the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

(1983–2002). He has done extensive work in the history of English, the motivation of sound change, and the history of linguistics. He was made an honorary professor at Edinburgh in 2014. He was the editor of the third volume of ''

The Cambridge History of the English Language ''The Cambridge History of the English Language'' is a six volume history of English published between 1992 and 2001. The general editor was Richard Hogg. * Volume 1, The Beginnings to 1066, Richard Hogg, ed. * Volume 2, 1066–1476, Norman ...

''. A festschrift in honor of Lass was published in 1997 edited by

Jacek Fisiak Jacek is a Polish given name of Greek origin related Hyacinth, through the archaic form of ''Jacenty''. Its closely related equivalents are: Jacinto (Spanish and Portuguese), Giacinto (Italian), Jácint ( Hungarian) and Jacint ( Catalan, shortened ...

. A volume of the journal ''

Language Sciences ''Language Sciences'' is a peer-reviewed journal published six times a year by Elsevier. The editor is Sune Vork Steffensen of the University of Southern Denmark The University of Southern Denmark ( da, Syddansk Universitet, lit=South Danish ...

'', entitled ''Collecting views on language change'' (Volume 24, Issues 3–4, May–July 2002, edited by

Raymond Hickey Raymond Hickey (born 3 June 1954, Dublin) is an Irish linguist specialising in the Hiberno-English, English language in Ireland, especially in the capital Dublin, working within the sociolinguistic paradigm of Variation (linguistics), language va ...

) was dedicated to Lass on his sixty fifth birthday. Other essays in his honor were published in the book ''Motives for Language Change'' (CUP 2003).

Books

* Historical linguistics and language change * Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion *

The Shape of English '' The Shape of English: Structure and History'' is a 1987 book by Roger Lass in which the author examines the history and structure of the English language. Reception The book was reviewed by John Algeo John Algeo (1930–2019) was an American ...

* Phonology: An Introduction to Basic Concepts * Language and Time: A Historian's View * On Explaining Language Change *

English Phonology and Phonological Theory ''English Phonology and Phonological Theory: Synchronic and Diachronic Studies'' is a 1976 book by Roger Lass Roger Lass (born January 1, 1937) is a historical linguist, currently an honorary professorial fellow at the University of Edinburgh. ...

Old English Phonology Old English phonology is necessarily somewhat speculative since Old English is preserved only as a written language. Nevertheless, there is a very large corpus of the language, and the orthography apparently indicates phonological alternation ...

, with

John Mathieson Anderson John Mathieson Anderson, FBA (born 1941) is a British linguist and academic. He is Emeritus Professor of English Language at the University of Edinburgh. In the 1970s, Anderson revived the idea of localism, which is the linguistic theory that all ...

* Approaches to English historical linguistics

References

1937 births Living people Historical linguists of English Yale University alumni Academics of the University of Edinburgh British phonologists Philosophers of linguistics University of Cape Town academics Indiana University faculty {{linguist-stub