Pierre Louis Chantraine (; 15 September 1899 – 30 June 1974) was a French

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 ...

. He was born in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

and died in Paris. A student of, among others, Antoine Meillet,

Joseph Vendryes Joseph Vendryes or Vendryès (; 13 January 1875, Paris – 30 January 1960) was a French Celtic linguist. After studying with Antoine Meillet, he was chairman of Celtic languages and literature at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. He found ...

and Paul Mazon, Chantraine became one of the most renowned authorities on

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 ...

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 ...

of his generation. After teaching at the University of Lyon between 1925 and 1928, he became ''Directeur d'études de philologie grecque'' ("Director of Greek Philology Studies") at the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

in Paris, and also taught at the

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, ...

from 1938, continuing in both functions until his retirement in 1969. For the ''Collection des Universités de France'', he edited and translated

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

(''Oeconomicus'') and Arrian (''Indica''). He was one of the first scholars to take serious note of

Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC), before the hypothesised Dorian invasion, often cited as the '' terminus ad quem'' for th ...

, after accepting the decipherment of Linear B by

Michael Ventris Michael George Francis Ventris, (; 12 July 1922 – 6 September 1956) was an English architect, classicist and philologist who deciphered Linear B, the ancient Mycenaean Greek script. A student of languages, Ventris had pursued deciphermen ...

and

John Chadwick John Chadwick, (21 May 1920 – 24 November 1998) was an English linguist and classical scholar who was most notable for the decipherment, with Michael Ventris, of Linear B. Early life, education and wartime service John Chadwick was born ...

in 1952. In 1953, he was elected a member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

Publications

* ''Histoire du parfait grec'', 1926 * ''La Formation des noms en grec ancien'', 1933 * ''Morphologie historique du grec'', 1945, revised edition 1961 * ''Grammaire homérique,'' vol. 1 ''Phonétique et Morphologie'', 1948, vol. 2 ''Syntaxe'', 1953 *
Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque
', 1968

Sources

Michel Lejeune: ''Notice sur la vie et travaux de M. Pierre Chantraine, membre de l'Académie''
in: '' Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres'' 1974, pp. 628–639 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chantraine, Pierre 1899 births 1974 deaths People from Lille French hellenists Classical philologists Linguists from France Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 20th-century linguists Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy