Dr. Valdis Juris Zeps (May 29, 1932 in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

– July 25, 1996 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia) was a Latvian-American linguist and college professor.

Early life and family

His parents, Jazeps and Anna Zeps, were

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. In 1944, he fled the Soviet occupation of Latvia with his parents and

brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

, Aivars Zeps. They arrived first in the

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for interna ...

of Lubeck,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, then, after receiving sponsorship, arrived in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1949. Valdis married Betty Reel Shuford, a costume designer, in 1957. Their

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

ren are Dace, Valdis, Barbara, and William; grandchildren, Sandra, Andrew, Guntis, Monika, and Leo; great grandchild, William.

Career

Valdis studied at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

and received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

linguistics 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 ...

and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

from

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 ...

in Bloomington in 1961. He became a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of linguistics at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1963. He was widely published, in over 130 publications and journals, on such topics as Latvian folksong

metrics Metric or metrical may refer to: * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics In mathema ...

, the Latvian language, and Latgalian

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

literature. He wrote ''Ķēves dēls Kurbads'' (partial text a

under the Pen name, pseudonym Jānis Turbads. In 1984, he published ''The placenames of Latgola: A dictionary of East Latvian toponyms''. In the 1990s, Valdis also served with distinction as a member of the Hocąk Wazijaci Language & Culture Program board in Mauston, Wisconsin, working with members of the Ho-Chunk Nation to navigate the many options for a new Hocąk language spelling system. In 1994 he compiled a large lexicon of the Hocąk language, which came to be fondly known as the "Zepsicon."

Bibliography

''Articles'' * ''Folk Meter and Latvian Verse'

in

Lituanus ''Lituanus'' is an English language quarterly journal dedicated to Lithuanian and Baltic languages, linguistics, political science, arts, history, literature, and related topics. It is published by the non-profit Lituanus Foundation, Inc., and ha ...

. 18:2 (1972) pg. 10–26. * ''Is Slavic a West Baltic Language?'

in

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 ...

. (1985) pg. 213–22

* ''What’s Instant Coffee in Latvian?'

in

33:3 (1987) pg. 25–36. ''Books:'' * ''Phoneme subsystems and correspondences in Cheremis dialects, 1960'' * ''Concordance and Thesaurus of Cheremis Poetic Language (Janua Linguarum) with Thomas A. Sebeok'', 1961 * ''Latvian and Finnic linguistic convergences (Indiana University publication. Uralic and Altaic series)'', 1962 * ''The placenames of Latgola: A dictionary of East Latvian toponyms (Wisconsin Baltic studies)'.' 1984

References

* 1932 births 1996 deaths Miami University alumni Indiana University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Latvian emigrants to the United States Latgalians (modern) Latvian World War II refugees Writers from Daugavpils {{latvia-bio-stub