Edward S. Klima (June 21, 1931 – September 25, 2008) was an American eminent

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. Lingu ...

who specialized in the study of

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign ...

s. Klima's work was heavily influenced by

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

's then-revolutionary theory of the biological basis of linguistics, and applied that analysis to

s. Klima, much of whose work was in collaboration with his wife,

Ursula Bellugi Ursula Bellugi (February 21, 1931 – April 17, 2022) was an American cognitive neuroscientist. She was a Distinguished Professor Emerita and director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. S ...

, was among the first to prove that sign languages are complete languages and have complex grammars that have all the features of grammars of oral languages. Widespread recognition of this fact was one of the catalysts of the cultural changes in and towards the deaf community in favor of encouraging the use of sign language, which had often been discouraged in favor of lip reading in the past.

Education and career

Klima graduated from James Ford Rhodes High School in Cleveland, Ohio in 1949. He studied linguistics at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

, earning his bachelor's degree in 1953. Two years later, he received a master's degree in the same subject from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. Starting in 1957, Klima worked as an Instructor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

under

. After earning his Ph.D in linguistics from Harvard University in 1965, he joined the linguistics department at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

. Later he also became an adjunct professor at the

Salk Institute for Biological Studies The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio va ...

, where his wife, Ursula Bellugi, was a professor, and director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience (of which Klima acted as associate director). While at MIT, he supervised Jeffrey S. Gruber.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klima, Edward 1931 births 2008 deaths People from Cleveland Dartmouth College alumni Harvard University alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty Linguists from the United States University of California, San Diego faculty Developmental psycholinguists 20th-century linguists Linguists of sign languages