__NOTOC__ Albert Cuny (16 May 1869 – 21 March 1947) was a French

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

known for his attempts to establish

phonological Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often prefer ...

correspondences between the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

and Semitic languages and for his contributions to the

laryngeal theory The laryngeal theory is a theory in historical linguistics positing that the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) language included a number of laryngeal consonants that are not linguistic reconstruction, reconstructable by direct application of the com ...

. He was a student of the French Indo-Europeanist

Antoine Meillet Paul Jules Antoine Meillet (; 11 November 1866 – 21 September 1936) was one of the most important French linguists of the early 20th century. He began his studies at the Sorbonne University, where he was influenced by Michel Bréal, the Swiss l ...

( Faral 1947:277). From 1910 until his formal retirement from teaching in 1937 he was a professor of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

comparative grammar Comparative linguistics is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic ...

at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

(ib. 278). He continued teaching

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

at the University however for the rest of his life (ib.). He was a correspondent of the

Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

(ib. 277). Cuny's place in the development of the laryngeal theory is described as follows by

Émile Benveniste Émile Benveniste (; 27 May 1902 – 3 October 1976) was a French Structuralism, structural linguistics, linguist and semiotics, semiotician. He is best known for his work on Indo-European languages and his critical reformulation of the linguist ...

(1935:148):

Bibliography

Selected works by Albert Cuny

* 1914. "Notes de phonétique historique. Indo-européen et sémitique." ''Revue de phonétique'' 2:101–132. * 1924. ''Etudes prégrammaticales sur le domaine des langues indo-européennes et chamito-sémitiques.'' Paris: Champion. * 1924, co-authored with Michel Féghali. ''Du genre grammatical en sémitique.'' Paris: Geuthner. * 1943. ''Recherches sur le vocalisme, le consonantisme et la formation des racines en « nostratique », ancêtre de l'indo-européen et du chamito-sémitique.'' Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve. * 1946. ''Invitation à l'étude comparative des langues indo-européennes et des langues chamito-sémitiques.'' Bordeaux: Brière.

Other works cited

* Benveniste, Émile. 1935. ''Origines de la formations des noms en indo-européen.'' Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve. * Faral, Edmond. 1947
"Éloge funèbre de M. Albert Cuny."
''Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'' 91.2, 277-279. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuny, Albert Linguists from France Long-range comparative linguists Linguists of Indo-Semitic languages 1947 deaths 1869 births

See also

Bibliography

Selected works by Albert Cuny

Other works cited