Elmer H. Antonsen (17 November 1929 – 25 August 2008) was an American philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Antonsen was born in

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a City (New York), city in Warren County, New York, Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls, New York metropolitan area, Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,83 ...

on 17 November 1929 to Haakon Jharl and Astrid Amelia (Sommer) Antonsen. He earned degrees in German at

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

where he took the B.A. degree, and then at

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

where he studied under Ernst Alfred Philippson for his doctorate. He taught

German Studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

Germanic Philology Germanic philology is the philology, philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a Comparative method, comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, wi ...

and Germanic Linguistics at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in the 1960s before moving back to the University of Illinois in 1967 to rise to Full Professor three years later. Antonsen served as Head of the department of Germanic languages and literatures from 1973 - 1982 and of the department of linguistics from 1990 - 1992. He was visiting professor at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

in 1972-73 and at

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

in 1988. His research and publications focused on historical and structural linguistics. He was a known expert on

runology Runology is the study of the runic alphabets, runic inscriptions, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics. History Runology was initiated by Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was interested in the ling ...

. He retired in 1996, and was awarded professor emeritus status. Antonsen died in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

on 25 August 2008.

Selected works

* ''A Concise Grammar of the Older Runic Inscriptions'', (Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 1975) * ''German Linguistics II. Papers from the Second Symposium on Germanic Linguistics. University of Illinois (October 3-4, 1986).'' Antonsen, Elmer H., &

Hans Henrich Hock Hans Henrich Hock (born 26 September 1938) is an American linguist and Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Sanskrit at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Hock holds an M.A. from Northwestern University (1964) and a PhD in linguist ...

, eds. Urbana, U IL Pr, 1988. * ''The Grimm Brothers and the Germanic Past'', Antonsen, Elmer, James W. Marchand and Ladislav Zgusta (eds.), (John Benjamins, Amsterdam 1990) * ''STAEFCRAEFT: Studies in Germanic Linguistics'', Antonsen &

Hock Hock may refer to: * Hock (wine), a type of wine * Hock (anatomy), part of an animal's leg * To leave an item with a pawnbroker * Hock (surname) * Richard "Hock" Walsh (1948-1999), Canadian blues singer * A type of wine bottle A wine bottl ...

(eds.), (John Benjamins, Amsterdam 1991) * ''Runes and Germanic Linguistics'', (Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2002) * ''Elements of German: Phonology and Morphology'', (University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 2007)

Sources

* Bernard Mees: "Elmer Antonsen as a Runologist." In: Mindy MacLeod, Marco Bianchi, Henrik Williams (Hrsg.): ''Reading Runes: Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Runes and Runic Inscriptions'', Nyköping, Sweden, 2–6 September 2014. Institutionen för nordiska språk vid Uppsala universitet,

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

2021, 109–124. * Wilfried Kürschner: ''Elmer H. Antonsen''. In: ''Linguistenhandbuch A–L'', Günter Narr Verlag, Tübingen 1997,
S. 15f. with a photo
1929 births 2008 deaths Historical linguists American philologists Morphologists Phonologists from the United States Germanic studies scholars Union College (New York) alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of German faculty American academics of German literature Linguists of Germanic languages Old Norse studies scholars Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters People from Glens Falls, New York People from Urbana, Illinois Runologists University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty 20th-century German philologists 20th-century American linguists {{US-linguist-stub