Bernd Nothofer (18 December 1941 – 5 January 2025) was a German linguist. His primary research interests included Austronesian historical linguistics, Malayic dialectology, and the

languages of Indonesia Indonesia is home to over 700 living languages spoken across its extensive archipelago. This significant linguistic variety constitutes approximately 10% of the world’s total languages, positioning Indonesia as the second most linguisticall ...

Early life and education

Nothofer was born on 18 December 1941. After graduating from high school, Nothofer studied in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

starting from 1962. In 1966, he obtained a ''License de Lettre libre'' at the

Université de Franche-Comté The Marie and Louis Pasteur University (UMLP), formerly known as University of Franche-Comté, is a pluridisciplinary public French university located in Besançon, Franche-Comté, with decentralized campuses in Belfort, Montbéliard, Vesoul and ...

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, France and taught German and French philology at Millersville State College in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. From 1967 to 1973, he studied linguistics with

Isidore Dyen Isidore Dyen (16 August 1913 in Philadelphia – 14 December 2008 in Newton, Massachusetts) was an American linguist, Professor Emeritus of Malayo-Polynesian and Comparative Linguistics at Yale University. He was one of the foremost scholars i ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. In 1973, he graduated with PhD in Linguistics after completing fieldwork in the Indonesian provinces of

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

and

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

. In 1977, he completed his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

Career

From 1973 to 1981, Nothofer was a research assistant at the

and lecturer at the

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. In 1981, he joined

Goethe University Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, where he was Professor at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies until his retirement in 2008. From 1985 to 2000, he was a visiting professor at Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Andalas,

University of Brunei Darussalam The Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD or University of Brunei Darussalam) is a public national research university situated in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, was founded in 1985 and is the oldest institution in the country. Nine ...

Universitas Gadjah Mada Gadjah Mada University (; , abbreviated as UGM) is a public research university located in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Officially founded on 19 December 1949, Gadjah Mada University is one of the oldest and largest institutio ...

, the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia The National University of Malaysia (, abbreviated as UKM) is a public research university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), ...

, and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. In 2006, he was honored with the

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

''Insular Southeast Asia: linguistic and cultural studies in honor of Bernd Nothofer'' in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. In 2012, another festschrift in honor of Nothofer was published in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

, titled ''Seminar Sehari bersama Prof. Dr. Bernd Nothofer dan Purnabakti Dr. Inyo Yos Fernandez''.

Personal life and death

Nothofer was married and had three children. He died in Eschbach on 5 January 2025, at the age of 83.

Selected publications

* ''The reconstruction of Proto-Malayo-Javanic.'' In: ''Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde'' 73 (1975). Nijhoff, The Hague. * ''Dialektgeographische Untersuchungen in West-Java und im westlichen Zentraljava''. 2 Bände. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980. * ''Dialektatlas von Zentral-Java''. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1981. * with K.-H. Pampus, Gloria und Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo: ''Bahasa Indonesia. Indonesisch für Deutsche''. Teil 1. Groos, Heidelberg 1985. * with K.-H. Pampus, Gloria und Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo: ''Bahasa Indonesia. Indonesisch für Deutsche''. Teil 2. Groos, Heidelberg 1987. * (editor). ''Die deutsche Malaiologie. Festschrift zu Ehren von Frau Professor Dr. Irene Hilgers-Hesse''. Groos, Heidelberg 1988. * with K.-H. Pampus: ''Bahasa Indonesia. Indonesisch für Deutsche''. Teil 1. Zweite, vollständig überarbeitete Auflage. Groos, Heidelberg 1988. * (editor). ''Reconstruction, Classification, Description. Festschrift in Honor of Isidore Dyen''. Abera, Hamburg 1997. * ''Dialek Melayu Bangka''. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 1997. * ''Pengantar etimologi''. Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta 2013.

References

External links

Official faculty page

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nothofer, Bernd 1941 births 2025 deaths Linguists from Germany Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Yale University alumni Linguists of Austronesian languages People from Krefeld Indonesianists