Nils Magnus Holmer (1904–1994) was a Swedish linguist born in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden. He married Vanja E. He died in Sweden in 1994.

Research

Holmer initially studied Russian at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

linguistics. In the 1920s, Holmer was a guest student at University in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

where he switched to studying

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...

. Holmer spent four months in the Scottish Highlands in the mid 1930s. From June to July 1935, he was in Argyllshire on the

Isle of Gigha Gigha (; gd, Giogha, italic=yes; sco, Gigha) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is m ...

, off

Kintyre Kintyre ( gd, Cinn Tìre, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north ...

where he met and conversed with almost the whole population of about 100 people. From March to June 1936 he stayed in the Rhinns (mostly at Port Charlotte where he lived with a family who spoke idiomatic Gaelic. He visited other parts of the Gaelic and English speaking Highlands, especially the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

from July to August 1935, where he became acquainted with the common speech of the ‘

Strath A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow (as opposed to a glen, which is typically narrower and deep). Word and etymology An anglicisation of the Gaelic word ''srath'', it is one of many that have been ab ...

’ between Broadford and

Torrin Torrin ( gd, Na Torrain) is a settlement on the island of Skye in Scotland. Geography The crofting and fishing village of Torrin lies on the eastern shore of Loch Slapin, southwest of Broadford (''An t-Àth Leathann''), on the road to Elgol ...

. During this time, he amassed a significant collection of vocabulary, knowledge and tradition from the last regularly

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

-speaking generation in particular the southern dialects of

, Arran and

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

whose speakers had mostly died by the 1950s. He published several books and articles on the topicChelliah, S. and de Reuse, Willem ''The History of Linguistic Fieldwork'' (2011) Springer and this material is the largest body of evidence for how this dialect was used and spoken in every day life. Experts in the Gaelic Society of Inverness considered Holmer to be a gifted scholar in the area. Holmer carried out fieldwork across a wide range of languages across several continents, including

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Siouan languages Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the entire ...

, the Central American language

Kuna Kuna may refer to: Places * Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States ** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho * Kuna Peak, a mountain in California * , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia * , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...

and the South American language of Choco and

Wayuu The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayúu, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Amerindian ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost part of Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Maipuran (Arawak) language family. Geography ...

. He was "deeply immersed" in the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

language. His contact with the

Algonquian languages The Algonquian languages ( or ; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous American languages that include most languages in the Algic languages, Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language f ...

Iroquoian languages The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...

was believed b
Proinsias Ó Drisceoil
to have influenced wha
Drisceoil
concluded was Holmer's "most important work" in grammatical typology. During the 1960s and 1970s he conducted extensive fieldwork into several

Australian Aboriginal languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

including recording the

Maric languages Maran or Maric is an extinct branch of the Pama–Nyungan family of Australian languages formerly spoken throughout much of Queensland by many of the Murri peoples. The well attested Maric languages are clearly related; however, many languages ...

in the Warrego and Maranoa rivers region from several speakers in the 1960s. Holmer salvaged as much as he could from

Wakka Wakka Wakka Wakka, or Waka Waka, people are an Aboriginal Australian community of the state of Queensland. Name "''Wakka''" was assigned the meaning "no" by Western linguists who documented the Wakawaka language. Ethnonyms based on the duplication of ...

language, analysing and publishing the results. With his wife, Vanja, he recorded and analysed the Dhanggati or Djangadi language in 1969. His work was helpful in the efforts of the Ngabu Bingayi Aboriginal Corporation to promote study of the language at Kempsey

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

. He also compiled a grammar and dictionary for the Mununjali language in 1978.

Career

Holmer was 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. Linguis ...

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Argyll, Scotland where he lived for a few years near

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

. Whilst there, he conducted research into the surviving speakers of

Loch Etive Loch Etive (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Eite'') is a 30 km sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It reaches the sea at Connel, 5 km north of Oban. It measures 31.6 km (19 miles) long and from 1.2 km ( mile) to wide. Its ...

-side Gaelic. Holmer is notable as the only Swede to have three articles published in the journal ''

Language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

''.Sigurd, Bengt ''Svensk språkforskning under 1900-talet'' Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings

References

Bibliography

* Holmer, Nils M.''Studies on Argyllshire Gaelic''. Uppsala et Leipzig, (''Skrifter utgivna av K. Humanistika Vetenskaps Samfundet i Uppsala'', 1938 * Holmer, N M. ''On Some Relics of the Irish Dialect spoken in the Glens of Antrim: with an Attempt toward the Reconstruction of Northeastern Irish ; Being a Report of a Visit to the Glens of Antrim in 1937'' Uppsala Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeri a.b. 1940. * Holmer N M, ''The Irish Language in Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim'', Todd Lecture Series ; iom-leabhar 18, Royal Irish Academy agus Hodges, Figgis, Baile Átha Cliath, 1942. * Holmer, Nils Magnus. ''Critical and comparative grammar of the Cuna language'', Göteborg : tnografiska Museet 1947 * Holmer, Nils M. ''Indian Place Names in North America''. Upsala: The American Institute in the University of Upsala, 1948. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''Ethno-linguistic Cuna dictionary'', Göteborg : Etnografiska Museet, 1952. * Holmer, Nils M. ''The Seneca language; a study in Iroquoian'', Upsala, Lundequist 1954 * Holmer, Nils M. ''The Gaelic of Arran''. Dublin, The Institute for Advanced Studies, 1957 * Holmer, N M. ''The Dialects of Co. Clare (Part 1)'', Todd Lecture Series, iom-leabhar 19-20. Royal Irish Academy agus Hodges, Figgis, Baile Átha Cliath, 1962 * Holmer, Nils M. ''On the history and structure of the Australian languages'', Upsala : Lundequistka bokhandeln, 1963. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''El idioma vasco hablado : un estudio de dialectología euskérica'' , San Sebastian, 1964. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''The Indian place names in Mexico and Central America'' Uppsala : Lundequistska bokhandeln, 1964. * Holmer, N M ''The Dialects of Co. Clare (part 2)'', Todd Lecture Series, iom- leabhar 19-20, Royal Irish Academy agus Hodges, Figgis, Baile Átha Cliath, 1965. * Holmer, Nils M. ''An Attempt towards a Comparative Grammar of Two Australian Languages.'' Canberra

Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

, 1966. * Holmer, Nils Magnus, ''Oceanic semantics : a study in the framing of concepts in the native languages of Australia and Oceania'', Uppsala : Ludequistska bokhandeln , 1966. * Holmer, Nils Magnus and Holmer,Vanja E. ''Stories from two native tribes of Eastern Australia'', Upsala : A.-b. Lundequistska bokhandeln, 1969. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''A comparative typological analysis of a New Guinea language'', Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksell Periodicals Co, 1971. * Holmer, Nils M ''Notes on the Bandjalang Dialect. Spoken at Coraki and Bungawalbin Creek, N.S.W.'' Canberra. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies., 197 * Holmer, Nils Magnus. ''Linguistic survey of South-Eastern Queensland''., Canberra : Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1983. * Holmer, Nils M. ''Notes on some Queensland languages'', Canberra, A.C.T., Australia : Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmer, Nils Scottish Gaelic language Linguists from Sweden 1904 births 1994 deaths Linguists of Iroquoian languages 20th-century linguists