Andrey Anatolyevich Zaliznyak ( rus, Андре́й Анато́льевич Зализня́к, p=zəlʲɪˈzʲnʲak; 29 April 1935 – 24 December 2017) was a Soviet and Russian

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 ...

, an expert in

historical linguistics 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 # ...

accentology Accentology involves a systematic analysis of word or phrase stress. Sub-areas of accentology include Germanic accentology, Balto-Slavic accentology, Indo-European accentology, and Japanese accentology. See also *Proto-Slavic accent Proto-Slavic ...

dialectology Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , '' -logia'') is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their ass ...

and grammar. Doctor of Philological Sciences (1965, while defending his

Candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

thesis). In his later years he paid much attention to popularization of linguistics and the struggle against

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...

Biography

Zaliznyak was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and studied in the Moscow University before moving to the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

to further his studies with André Martinet. He was admitted into the

Soviet Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

as a corresponding member in 1987. Ten years later, he was elected a full

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

. Zaliznyak's first monograph, ''Russian Nominal Inflection'' (1967), remains a definitive study in the field. Ten years later, he published a highly authoritative ''Grammatical Dictionary of the Russian Language'', which went through several reprints and provided a basis for Russian grammar software. In 1982, Zaliznyak turned his interests towards the

birch bark scrolls ''Wiigwaasabak'' (in Anishinaabe syllabics: , plural: ''wiigwaasabakoon'' ) are birch bark scrolls, on which the Ojibwa (Anishinaabe) people of North America wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes, also known as a "written language ...

which have been unearthed in Novgorod since the 1950s. He has co-edited all publications of newly discovered birch scrolls since 1986. As the number of these ancient documents exceeded 700, Zaliznyak summed up his findings in the monograph ''

Old Novgorod dialect Old Novgorod dialect (russian: древненовгородский диалект, translit=drevnenovgorodskij dialekt; also translated as Old Novgorodian or Ancient Novgorod dialect) is a term introduced by Andrey Zaliznyak to describe the dia ...

'' (1995), which comprised the texts and comments of every birch scroll discovered. In particular, he demonstrated how the

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

of the Old Novgorod dialect can be reconstructed from the typos in the birch scrolls. In 2003, Zaliznyak published the first comprehensive study of the

Novgorod Codex The Novgorod Codex (russian: Новгородский кодекс) is the oldest book of the Rus’, unearthed on July 13, 2000 in Novgorod. It is a palimpsest consisting of three bound wooden tablets containing four pages filled with wax, on w ...

, the earliest extant East Slavic book, which had been sensationally discovered three years earlier. In 2004, he published a study of

the Tale of Igor's Campaign ''The Tale of Igor's Campaign'' ( orv, Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ, translit=Slovo o pŭlku Igorevě) is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as ''The Tale of the Campai ...

which examined all the significant linguistic arguments concerning its authenticity. Zaliznyak contends that no 20th-century (let alone 18th-century) forger could have reproduced the grammatical subtleties of the 12th-century Old East Slavic language. Zaliznyak lectured in the Moscow University,

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

, and

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. For more data on his work, see

, and

Honors

* 1997: Demidov Prize * 2007: State Prize of the Russian FederationНазваны лауреаты Государственной премии РФ

Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...

20 May 2008 * 2007:

Solzhenitsyn Prize The Solzhenitsyn Prize is a non-governmental Russian literary award established by the Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn in 1997. The $25,000 prize is awarded for "works in which troubles of the Russian life are shown with rare moral purity an ...

* 2007:

Lomonosov Gold Medal The Lomonosov Gold Medal (russian: Большая золотая медаль имени М. В. Ломоносова ''Bol'shaya zolotaya medal' imeni M. V. Lomonosova''), named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, is awarded ...

* 2015: , for his work, ''Древнерусское ударение: общие сведения и словарь''

Major works

* Andrey Zaliznyak. ''Russkoe imennoe slovoizmenenie.'' Moskva, 1967. * Andrey Zaliznyak. ''Grammaticheskij slovar' russkogo jazyka''. Moskva, 1977, (further editions are 1980, 1987, 2003). * Andrey Zaliznyak. Grammaticheskij ocherk sanskrita. Appendix to ''Russian-Sanscrit dictionnary'', ed. by V.A. Kochergina, Moskva, 1978. * Andrey Zaliznyak. ''Drevnenovgorodskij dialekt''. Jazyki slavjanskoj kul'tury: Moskva. 2004. * Andrey Zaliznyak. ''About Faux Linguistics and Quasihistory'' "О ложной лингвистике и квазиистории"
(retrieved October 14, 2015)

References

External links

А. А. Зализняк
на сайте Института славяноведения РАН

* Pavel Iosad, Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Alexander Piperski and Dmitri Sitchinava (2018
"Depth, brilliance, clarity: Andrey Anatolyevich Zaliznyak (1935–2017)" (Obituary)
''Linguistic Typology'' 2018; 22(1): 175–184. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaliznyak, Andrey 1935 births 2017 deaths Writers from Moscow Russian people of Ukrainian descent Slavists Linguists from Russia Linguists from the Soviet Union 20th-century linguists Grammarians from Russia Linguists of Russian 21st-century linguists University of Paris alumni Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Demidov Prize laureates Solzhenitsyn Prize winners Recipients of the Lomonosov Gold Medal