Robert Lawrence Trask (10 November 1944 – 27 March 2004) was an American–British professor of

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. Ling ...

at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, and an authority on the Basque language and the field of

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 # ...

Biography

Born in

Olean, New York Olean ( ) is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. Olean is the largest city in Cattaraugus County and serves as its financial, business, transportation and entertainment center. It is one of the principal cities of the Souther ...

, he initially studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

in his home country, but after a brief stint in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

he took an interest in linguistics. He 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 ...

in linguistics from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, and thereafter taught at various universities in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. He became a professor of linguistics at the University of Sussex. He was considered an authority on the Basque language: his book ''The History of Basque'' (1997) is an essential reference on diachronic Basque linguistics and probably the best introduction to Basque linguistics as a whole. He was at work compiling an

etymological dictionary An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' and ''Webster's'', will contain some etymological information, without aspiring to focus on etymology. E ...

of that language when he died; the unfinished work was posthumously published on the Internet by Max W. Wheeler. He was also an authority on

, and had written about the problem of the

origin of language The origin of language (spoken and signed, as well as language-related technological systems such as writing), its relationship with human evolution, and its consequences have been subjects of study for centuries. Scholars wishing to study th ...

. He also published two introductory books to linguistics: ''Language: The basics'' (1995) and ''Introducing Linguistics'' (coauthored with Bill Mayblin) (2000), and several dictionaries on different topics of this science: ''A dictionary of grammatical terms in linguistics'' (1993), ''A dictionary of phonetics and phonology'' (1996), ''A student's dictionary of language and linguistics'' (1997), ''Key concepts in language and linguistics'' (1999), ''The dictionary of historical and comparative linguistics'' (2000) and ''The Penguin dictionary of English grammar'' (2000). Other of his books include: * ''Language Change'' (1994) * ''Historical Linguistics'' (1996), * ''The Penguin Guide to Punctuation'' (1997) * ''The Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar'' (2000), * ''Time Depth in Historical Linguistics'' (co-editor) (2000), * ''Mind the Gaffe'' (2001), * ''How to Write Effective Emails'' (2005),

References

External links

The Larry Trask Archive

with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''
Contributions
t
Ask-a-Linguist
* ttp://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/ Larry Trask's Guide to Punctuation* Obituaries *
The Guardian
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University of Sussex Newsletter (includes a photograph)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trask, Larry 1944 births 2004 deaths Academics of the University of Sussex Alumni of the University of London Basque-language scholars Neurological disease deaths in England Deaths from motor neuron disease Historical linguists Linguists from the United States People from New York (state) 20th-century linguists