William O. Bright (August 13, 1928 – October 15, 2006) was an American linguist and

toponymist Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

who specialized in Native American and South Asian languages and descriptive linguistics.

Biography

Bright earned a bachelor's degree in linguistics in 1949 and a doctorate in the same field in 1955, both from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a professor of linguistics and anthropology at UCLA from 1959 to 1988. He then moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he remained on the faculty until his death. Bright was an authority on the native languages and cultures of California, and was especially known for his work on Karuk, a Native American language from northwestern California. His study of the language was the first carried out under the auspices of the

Survey of California and Other Indian Languages The Survey of California and Other Indian Languages (originally the Survey of California Indian Languages) at the University of California at Berkeley documents, catalogs, and archives the indigenous languages of the Americas. The survey also hosts ...

. He was made an honorary member of the Karuk tribe—the first outsider to be so honored—in recognition of his efforts to document and preserve their language which led to its revival. Bright was also known for his research on the Native American languages

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

Kaqchikel Kaqchikel, also spelled Kaqchickel, Kakchiquel, Cachiquel, Cakchikel, Caqchikel, or Cakchiquel, may refer to: * Kaqchikel people, an ethnic subgroup of the Maya * Kaqchikel language, the language spoken by that people {{disamb Language and national ...

, Luiseño,

Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...

, Wishram, and Yurok, and the South Asian languages Lushai, Kannada, Tamil, and

Tulu Tulu may refer to: People *Derartu Tulu (born 1972), Ethiopian long-distance runner *Walid Yacoubou (born 1997), Togolese footballer nicknamed "Tulu" India *Tulu calendar, traditional solar calendar generally used in the regions of southwest Kar ...

. Of particular note are his toponymic contributions to knowledge about Native American place-names and their linguistic importance for tribes and California bands. Bright was editor of '' Language'', the journal of the Linguistic Society of America, from 1966 to 1988 and of '' Language in Society'' from 1993 to 1999. He was the founding editor of ''

Written Language and Literacy ''Written Language and Literacy'' is a peer-reviewed biannual academic journal of linguistics published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. The editor-in-chief is Beatrice Primus (University of Cologne). It is abstracted and indexed by European R ...

'', which he edited from 1997 until 2003. He served as president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1989.

Personal life

Bright was the father of author Susie Bright. From 1986, he was married to fellow linguist Lise Menn. He died of a brain tumor.

Bibliography

*''Native American Placenames of the United States'' (University of Oklahoma, 2004) *''1,500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning'' (University of California, 1998) *''

The World's Writing Systems ''The World's Writing Systems'' is a reference book about the world's writing systems. The book is edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright and was first published by Oxford University Press in 1996. ''The World's Writing Systems'' system ...

'' (co-editor with Peter T. Daniels) (Oxford University Press, 1996) *''A Coyote Reader'' (University of California, 1993) *''International Encyclopedia of Linguistics'' (editor) (Oxford University Press, 1992) *''Language variation in South Asia'' (Oxford University Press, 1990) *''American Indian Linguistics and Literature'' (Mouton, 1984) *''Discovered tongues: Poems by linguists'' (editor) (Corvine Press, 1983) *''Haiku journey: To the North Coast'' (Copper Canyon Press, 1983) *''Bibliography of the languages of Native California, including closely related languages of adjacent areas'' (Scarecrow Press, 1982)

References

External links

Bill Bright, 1928-2006
at

Language Log ''Language Log'' is a collaborative language blog maintained by Mark Liberman, a phonetician at the University of Pennsylvania. Most of the posts focus on language use in the media and in popular culture. Text available through Google Search fr ...

The William O. Bright Papers
at the American Philosophical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, William 1928 births 2006 deaths Linguists from the United States Sociolinguists American Mesoamericanists Linguists of Mesoamerican languages University of Colorado faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni People from Oxnard, California Deaths from brain cancer in the United States 20th-century Mesoamericanists Native American language revitalization Toponymists Linguists of Salishan languages Linguists of Hokan languages Linguists of Uto-Aztecan languages Paleolinguists Linguistic Society of America presidents