Dubravko Škiljan (October 31, 1949 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

– July 21, 2007 in Zagreb), was a Croatian

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. Linguis ...

known for his work on Classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...

Life

After finishing primary school and classical gymnasium in Zagreb, he enrolled the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

where he graduated in 1972 in

theoretical linguistics Theoretical linguistics is a term in linguistics which, like the related term general linguistics, can be understood in different ways. Both can be taken as a reference to theory of language, or the branch of linguistics which inquires into the n ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

and their literatures. He received his MA in archeology in 1974 with the thesis ''Greek language of the monuments of Late Antique Salona'', and in 1976 his PhD with the theoretical-linguistics thesis titled ''Linguistics and dialectics''. Since 1972, he worked as a professor of Latin and Ancient Greek in a primary school, and from 1974 on at the

Classical Gymnasium in Zagreb The Classical Gymnasium ( hr, Klasična gimnazija) is a gymnasium high school (similar to a grammar school in England and Wales) situated in Zagreb, Croatia. It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1607. In its first year it had 260 students a ...

. In 1977 he received a full-time job, first as a teacher assistant, then as a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...

(since 1977), and finally as a regular professor in 1986, re-elected in 1992, at the Department of General linguistics at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. During that period, he served as the head of the department, and soon after their foundation, the head of departments of

applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication rese ...

and

. In one turn he served both as the head of the department and a prodean for teaching. In the period of 1996–2003 he served as a professor of linguistics and semiotics at the ''Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis'', the faculty of post-graduate humanities studies at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

, where he wrote a post-graduate and doctoral study regarding the speech linguistics and the theory of societal communication, serving as the coordinator of the study. Soon after he returned to his duty of a regular professor of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. From 1973 to his death he published more than 250 papers in general and

, history of linguistics,

and

classical philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

(of it 36 in form of books or monographs), participated in numerous scientific conferences in his country and abroad, and led several scientific projects in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Besides the regular teaching activity in undergraduate and postgraduate courses, he gave lectures in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

( CEU),

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

(''Scuola superiore per traduttori e interpreti''),

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

and elsewhere. He served as a mentor for numerous PhD and MA students in Zagreb and Ljubljana. His book ''Mappa mundi'' has earned him the ''Kiklop'' award in 2006. He died in Zagreb in 2007, following a prolonged illness.

Works

* 1976 ''Dinamika jezičnih struktura'' * 1980 ''Pogled u lingvistiku'' * 1985 ''U pozadini znaka'' * 1988 ''Jezična politika'' * 1991 ''Kraj lingvistike?'' * 2000 ''Javni jezik'' * 2002 ''Govor nacije: jezik, nacija, Hrvati'' * 2006 ''Mappa mundi'' * 2007 ''Vježbe iz semantike ljubavi''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skiljan, Dubravko Linguists from Croatia Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Academic staff of the University of Zagreb Scientists from Zagreb 1949 births 2007 deaths Deaths from cancer in Croatia Deaths from pancreatic cancer 20th-century linguists