Ari Hoptman (born February 22, 1967) is an American actor, author, and academic, specializing in Germanic

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

, as well as a

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AF ...

historian.

Career

Hoptman attended

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

before moving to the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

to attend graduate school at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. He studied

Germanic philology Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary t ...

under Anatoly Liberman, eventually earning his

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

in 2002. His graduate work investigated the possible relationship between

Verner's Law Verner's law describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby consonants that would usually have been the voiceless fricatives , , , , , following an unstressed syllable, became the voiced fricatives , , , , . The law wa ...

and certain stress patterns of Old Germanic poetry. At the University of Minnesota, Hoptman teaches classes in the Department of German, Nordic, Scandinavian & Dutch. Hoptman has appeared in dozens of theatre productions, plays and solo shows, mostly in comedic roles.

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...

called Hoptman a "great local actor", and one reviewer said he takes a dry pleasure in unusual couplings in his humor. Portraying Ira Stone from ''

Laughter on the 23rd Floor ''Laughter on the 23rd Floor'' is a 1993 play by Neil Simon. It focuses on the star and writers of a TV comedy-variety show in the 1950s, inspired by Simon's own early career experience as a junior writer (along with his brother Danny Simon, Danny ...

'' four different times, Hoptman has described the journalist as obnoxious, loud, rude, and late on arrival, but "a brilliant writer."

Filmography

Publications

Hoptman's books include: * ''A Bibliography of English Etymology, Volumes 1–2'' with Anatoly Liberman and Nathan E. Carlson * ''Die erste Reise'' * ''Sprachbau: Grammatik und Arbeitsheft Fur Das Dritte Jahr'' * ''The Mood of the Tales are Gloomy'' * ''Verner's Law, Stress, and the Accentuation of Old Germanic Poetry'' Hoptman's work has been used or referrnced in a number of books and journals, including: * ''1001 Secrets Every Birder Should Know: Tips and Trivia for the Backyard and Beyond'' by Sharon Stiteler * ''Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik, Volumes 54-55'' * ''An Analytic Dictionary of the English Etymology: An Introduction'' by Anatoly Liberman * ''Current projects in historical lexicography'' * ''Interdisciplinary Journal for Germanic Linguistics and Semiotic Analysis, Volume 4'' * ''Intermediate Dutch: A Grammar and Workbook'' by Jenneke A. Oosterhoff * ''Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts: LLBA., Volume 36, Issue 1'' * ''North-western European Language Evolution: NOWELE., Volumes 36–37'' * ''Sociological Abstracts, Volume 50, Issue 2'' Hoptman is mentioned for his acting in: * ''The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers'' by

Cathleen Falsani Cathleen Falsani (born September 25, 1970) is an American journalist and author. She specializes in the intersection of religion/spirituality/faith and culture, and has been a staff writer for the ''Chicago Sun Times'', the ''Chicago Tribune'', ...

* ''The Princeton Seventh'' by James Vculek.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoptman, Ari Jewish American male actors University of Minnesota alumni Wayne State University alumni Etymologists American non-fiction writers Living people 1967 births 21st-century American Jews