Dr. Valdis Juris Zeps (May 29, 1932 in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

, Latvia – July 25, 1996 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia) was a Latvian-American linguist and college professor.

Early life and family

His parents, Jāzeps and Anna Zeps, were

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

refugees. In 1944, he fled the Soviet occupation of Latvia with his parents and brother, Aivars Zeps. They arrived first in the

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...

of Lubeck, Germany, then, after receiving sponsorship, arrived in the United States in 1949. Valdis married Betty Reel Shuford, a costume designer, in 1957. Their

child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

ren are Dace, Valdis, Barbara, and William; grandchildren, Sandra, Andrew, Guntis, Monika, and Leo; great grandchild, William.

Career

Valdis studied at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

and received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in linguistics] and sociology from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1961. He became a professor of linguistics at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1963. He was widely published, in over 130 publications and journals, on such topics as Latvian folksong

metrics Metric or metrical may refer to: Measuring * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics ...

, the Latvian language, and Latgalian

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

literature. He wrote ''Ķēves dēls Kurbads'' (partial text a

under the Pen name, pseudonym Jānis Turbads. In 1984, he published ''The placenames of Latgola: A dictionary of East Latvian toponyms''. In the 1990s, Valdis also served with distinction as a member of the Hocąk Wazijaci Language & Culture Program board in Mauston, Wisconsin, working with members of the Ho-Chunk Nation to navigate the many options for a new Hocąk language spelling system. In 1994 he compiled a large lexicon of the Hocąk language, which came to be fondly known as the "Zepsicon."

Bibliography

''Articles'' *''Folk Meter and Latvian Verse'

in

Lituanus ''Lituanus'' is an English language quarterly journal dedicated to Lithuanian and Baltic languages, linguistics, political science, arts, history, literature, and related topics. It is published by the non-profit Lituanus Foundation, Inc., and ha ...

. 18:2 (1972) pages 10–26. *''Is Slavic a West Baltic Language?'

in General Linguistics. (1985) pages 213–22

*''What’s Instant Coffee in Latvian?'

in

33:3 (1987) pages 25–36. ''Books:'' *''Phoneme subsystems and correspondences in Cheremis dialects, 1960'' *''Concordance and Thesaurus of Cheremis Poetic Language (Janua Linguarum) with Thomas A. Sebeok'', 1961 *''Latvian and Finnic linguistic convergences (Indiana University publication. Uralic and Altaic series)'', 1962 *''The placenames of Latgola: A dictionary of East Latvian toponyms (Wisconsin Baltic studies)''. 1984

References

* 1932 births 1996 deaths Miami University alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Latvian emigrants to the United States Latgalians (modern) Latvian World War II refugees Writers from Daugavpils {{latvia-bio-stub