Eleanor Harz Jorden (December 28, 1920 – February 18, 2009) was an American linguistics scholar and an influential

Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...

educator and expert. Born Eleanor Harz, she married

William Jorden William John Jorden (May 3, 1923 – February 20, 2009) was a diplomatic correspondent for ''The New York Times'', United States Ambassador to Panama, and author. Jorden studied at Yale University, receiving a bachelor's degree in internatio ...

, reporter and diplomat; the marriage ended in divorce. Jorden earned her Ph.D. at

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 ...

under the direction of Bernard Bloch in 1950.J. Marshall Unger, ''Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan'' (Oxford University Press US, 1996: ), p. 100. She was best known for her seminal textbooks on the Japanese language, including ''Beginning Japanese'' and '' Japanese: The Spoken Language''. The latter text included Jorden's JSL system of

rōmaji The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logogram, logographic characters borrowe ...

for transcribing Japanese into Roman script. Her explanations of the subtleties of

Japanese grammar Japanese is an agglutinative, synthetic, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent. Word order is normally subject–object–verb with ...

and usage are still widely referenced today. Jorden taught Japanese at many educational institutions, including

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

, the

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 ...

International Christian University is a non-denominational private university located in Mitaka, Tokyo. With the efforts of Prince Takamatsu, General Douglas MacArthur, and Bank of Japan, BOJ Governor Hisato Ichimada, ICU was established in 1949 as the first liberal arts coll ...

in Tokyo and

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. For many years, Jorden also served as Chairman of the Department of East Asian Languages at the U.S. State Department's

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for members of the U.S. foreign service community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreign ...

(FSI). Jorden also founded several programs, including the intensive FALCON Program at

and the Foreign Service Institute Japanese Language School in Tokyo, Japan.

Honors

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Apr ...

, 1985.National Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs (NASILP)
Eleanor Jorden
. *

Japan Foundation Award The Japan Foundation Awards honor individuals and organizations for significant contributions to "the enhancement of mutual understanding between Japan and other countries." History Activities in an academic or cultural field have been presented ...

, 1985 * Anthony Papalia Award for Excellence in Teacher Education,

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) is an organization aiming to improve and expand the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction. ACTFL is an individual membership organization of more than ...

(ACTFL), 1993. *

, honorary doctorate. "Eleanor 'Mudd' Harz Jorden Dies at 88,"
''Vineyard Gazette.'' March 6, 2009. * Knox College, honorary doctorate. *

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

, honorary doctorate. *

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

(Scotland), honorary doctorate. * President of the

Association for Asian Studies The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) is a scholarly, non-political and non-profit professional association focusing on Asia and the study of Asia. It is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The Association provides members with an Ann ...

in 1980.

Selected bibliography

* Jorden, Eleanor Harz & Chaplin, Hamako Ito (1962) ''Beginning Japanese: Part 1.'' New Haven, CT:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

. * Jorden, Eleanor Harz & Chaplin, Hamako Ito (1963) ''Beginning Japanese: Part 2.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. * Jorden, Eleanor Harz & Chaplin, Hamako Ito (1976) ''Reading Japanese.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. * Jorden, Eleanor Harz & Noda, Mari (1987). '' Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 1.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. * Jorden, Eleanor Harz & Noda, Mari (1988). ''Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 2.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. * Jorden, Eleanor Harz & Noda, Mari (1990). ''Japanese, The Spoken Language: Part 3.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. * Jorden, Eleanor H., with Richard Lambert (1991). ''Japanese Language Instruction in the United States: Resources, Practice, and Investment Strategy.'' Washington, D.C.: Natl. Foreign Lang. Center.

References

External links

''Cornell Chronicle'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorden, Eleanor 1920 births 2009 deaths Cornell University faculty Ohio State University faculty Order of the Precious Crown members Presidents of the Association for Asian Studies Yale University alumni Linguists of Japanese