Eric Hamp
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Eric Pratt Hamp (November 16, 1920 – February 17, 2019) was an American linguist widely respected as a leading authority on Indo-European linguistics, with particular interests in
Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...
and Albanian. Unlike many Indo-Europeanists, who work entirely on the basis of written materials, he conducted extensive fieldwork on lesser-known Indo-European languages and dialects, such as Albanian, Arbëresh and Arvanitika; Breton; Welsh; Irish; Resian and Scots Gaelic. His wide-ranging interests also included American Indian languages. He served for many years as editor of the '' International Journal of American Linguistics'' and did field work on Quileute and Ojibwa. He also studied linguistic aspects of
braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...
. Hamp's scholarship was characterized by the densely argued, narrowly focused note, essay and review, generally consisting of a few pages. He wrote more than 3,500 articles and reviews, and nearly every important aspect of
historical linguistics Historical linguistics, also known as diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of how languages change over time. It seeks to understand the nature and causes of linguistic change and to trace the evolution of languages. Historical li ...
was dealt with, often multiple times, in Hamp's writings. He was the Robert Maynard Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
and in spite of his advanced age, he continued to write, edit, speak and travel at select meetings and conferences, and was an Associate Editor of the journal '' Anthropological Linguistics''. He died in February 2019 at the age of 98.


Early life

Hamp was born in London in 1920 and moved to the United States in 1925 when his father became the New York representative of the Silver Line, a British shipping company. Growing up in
East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...
, Hamp was sent to the Tome School in 1935 and entered
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
in the fall of 1938. He received his BA from Amherst, majoring in Greek and Latin, in 1942. Hamp was still a British subject during the early years of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and he spent the period immediately after college as a purchasing agent for the
Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...
under
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...
, which provided U.S. war materiel to the Allies. He then became a U.S. citizen and served in the U.S. Army, being discharged in 1947 at the rank of sergeant. Hamp resumed his studies in 1947, entering the Department of Comparative Philology at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
(the department was renamed the Department of Linguistics in 1951), from which he received an MA (1948) and PhD (1954). Among Hamp's teachers at Harvard were Joshua Whatmough and Kenneth H. Jackson.


Career

Hamp became interested in Albanian while in graduate school at Harvard, and he traveled to southern Italy to do field work among the
Arbëreshë people The Arbëreshë (; ; ), also known as Albanians of Italy or Italo-Albanians, are an Albanians, Albanian ethnolinguistic group minority historically settled in Southern Italy, Southern and Insular Italy (in the regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Basili ...
, an Albanian
ethnolinguistic group An ethnolinguistic group (or ethno-linguistic group) is a group that is unified by both a common ethnicity and language. Most ethnic groups share a first language. However, "ethnolinguistic" is often used to emphasise that language is a major bas ...
in southern Italy. It was in Italy in 1950 that he received an invitation to join the faculty of the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
as a lecturer in Linguistics. Hamp spent his entire academic career on the University of Chicago faculty, being promoted to assistant professor in 1953, associate professor in 1958 and full professor in 1962. He retired from teaching in 1991. At Chicago, he was the
Robert Maynard Hutchins Robert Maynard Hutchins (January 17, 1899 – May 14, 1977) was an American educational philosopher. He was the President of the University of Chicago, 5th president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago, and ear ...
Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics, where he served as chair from 1966 to 1969. Hamp also held appointments at the University of Chicago in the departments of Psychology and Slavic Languages and Literatures, as well as in the Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World. He served as director for the Center for Balkan and Slavic Studies from 1965 to 1991. He was a visiting fellow and faculty member at a number of institutions throughout the world, including the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
; the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
; the
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...
; the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
; and the Luigj Gurakuqi University of Shkodër, Albania. In 1960, he held the Hermann and Klara H. Collitz Professorship for Comparative Philology at the Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute at the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
. Hamp was a prodigious lecturer, and among the invited talks he has given were the Rudolf Thurneysen Memorial Lecture at the
University of 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 ...
and the James W. Poultney Lecture at
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 ...
.


Selected honors

Hamp's extensive career brought him recognition from multiple disciplines in language studies, including six Festschriften: one in general linguistics, two in Balkan studies, one in Native American languages, one in Indo-European linguistics and one in Celtic studies. These works include ''Studies in Balkan Linguistics to Honor Eric P. Hamp on his Sixtieth Birthday, Folia Slavica'' 4, 2–3, published in 1981 and edited by Howard I. Aronson and Bill J. Darden; ''Celtic Language, Celtic Culture: A Festschrift for Eric P. Hamp,'' published in 1990 and edited by A.T. E. Matonis and Daniel F. Melia; and ''Scritti in onore di Eric Pratt Hamp per il suo 90. compleanno'', edited by Giovanni Belluscio and Antonio Mendicino of the University of Calabria and published in 2010 (ISBN 9 788874 581016). In 1971, Hamp served as president of the Linguistic Society of America. Hamp was a member of many academies and learned societies, including the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
, the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
,American Philosophical Society
, Eric P. Hamp's member history in the American Philosophical Society
the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Albanian Academy of Sciences, and he received honorary doctorates from
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
,
University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...
, the University of Calabria, the
University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
, and the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
. On his 92nd birthday in 2012, Posta Shqiptare, the national postal service of Albania, honored Hamp with a 50 lekë stamp in a series commemorating foreign Albanologists, linguists who have studied the
Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...
. Hamp was the only living Albanologist honored in the series, the two other commemorated linguists being Norbert Jokl and Holger Pedersen.


Personal life

Hamp married Margot Faust, a lecturer in Art Education at the University of Chicago, in 1951. She often assisted him in his field work. They had two children: a daughter, Julijana, and a son, Alex. They remained married for more than 67 years until Hamp's death in 2019.Megan, Graydon, "Eric Hamp, U. of C. linguist who studied how languages change, dies at 98," ''Chicago Tribune'', 1 March 2019.
Retrieved 26 April 2020.


Selected works

*Author: A Glossary of American Technical Linguistic Usage, 3d rev. ed., 1966, Vaccarizzo Albanese Phonology, 1993 * (with others) Language and Machines, 1966 * Co-editor Readings in Linguistics I & II, abridged ed., 1995, Languages and Areas: Studies presented to
George V. Bobrinskoy George Vladimir Bobrinskoy (; 23 January 1901 – 17 November 1985 was a Russian-born American Sanskritist. He was professor emeritus in the departments of linguistics, Slavic languages and South Asian literature and civilization at the Universit ...
, 1967, Themes in Linguistics: The 1970s, 1973 * Advisory editor: Foundations of Language 1964–74, Studies in Language, 1974–79, General Linguistics, 1966–91, Papers in Language and Lit., 1965–92, Journal Linguistics, 1971–81, Journal Indo-European Studies, 1972—, Folia Linguistica Historica, 1978–98, Ann. of Armenian Linguistics, 1978—, Anthropological Linguistics, 1981—, ''
Études Celtiques ''Études Celtiques'' (EC) (, ''Celtic studies, Celtic Studies'') is a French academic journal based in Paris. It started life under the name ''Revue Celtique'', which was founded in 1870 by Henri Gaidoz. Between 1870 and 1934, 52 volumes were p ...
'', 1982—, ''Journal Historical Linguistics and Philology'', 1982–90, Glossologia (Athens), 1983–99, Jewish Language Rev. (Haifa), 1983, Medieval Language Rev., 1991—, ''Linguistics Abstracts'', 1985, 95, Voprosy Jazykoznanija (Moscow), 1988–92, Studia Indogermanica, 1990—, Albanica, 1991–93 * Associate editor: '' International Journal of American Linguistics'', 1967–92, emeritus editor, 1992—, Native American Texts Series, 1974—, founding editor *
Atlas Linguarum Europae The ''Atlas Linguarum Europae'' (literally ''Atlas of the Languages of Europe'', ALE in acronym) is a linguistic atlas project launched in 1970 with the help of UNESCO, and published from 1975 to 2007. The ALE used its own phonetic transcription sy ...
, 1984— * Section head comparative and hist. linguistics: Celtic and Albanian sections Modern Language Association Ann. Bibliography, 1969–82 * Advisor: Encyclopedia Brit., 1969–2000, member advisory committee, 1985–2000 * Member adv. board and contributor Pergamon-Aberdeen '' Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics'', 1988–94 * Member Advisory Board Slavia Centralis, 2009— * Adv. and project linguist Braille Reading and Language Programs and Braille Research Center, Am. Printing House for the Blind, 1977–96, member International English Braille Linguistics committee, 1994— * Editor for etymologies: Random House Unabridged Dictionary (rev. ed.) * Participant in Yeniseic-Tlingit-Athabaskan Familial Proof, Tokyo, Leipzig and Alaska 2004,-06, 08, 10 * Author ca. 1,500 articles in field.


Bibliography

Among the more than 3500 articles, reviews and other works Eric Hamp produced, some notable ones are: *Hamp, Eric P., Martin Joos, Fred W. Householder, and Robert Austerlitz, editors Readings in Linguistics I & II. With a new Preface by Eric Hamp. Abridged edition. 302 p. 8½ × 11 1957, 1966, 1995 *Hamp, Eric P. "Mabinogi." ''Transactions of the Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion'' . 1974–75. 243-49. *Hamp, Eric. 1979. "Toward the history of Slavic scholarship," ''Slovene Studies'' 1/2: 61–62. *Hamp, Eric. 1988. "Indo-European o-grade deverbal thematics in Slovene," ''Slovene Studies'' 10/1: 65–70 *Hamp, Eric. 1989. "On the survival of Slovene o-grade deverbal thematics in Resian," ''Slovene Studies'' 10/2: 171–173. *Hamp, Eric. 1989. "Chronological marriage patterns in Resia," ''Slovene Studies'' 10/2: 201–202. *Hamp, Eric. 1996. "On the Indo-European origins of the retroflexes in Sanskrit." ''The Journal of the American Oriental Society'', October 21, 1996: 719–724. *Hamp, Eric. 1999. "Mabinogi and Archaism" ''Celtica 23'', 1999: 96–110. *Hamp, Eric. 2007. ''Studime krahasuese për shqipen'' (Comparative studies on Albanian) edited by Rexhep Ismajli, Akademia e Shkencave dhe e Arteve e Kosovës, Prishtinë.


References


External links


BooksLinguistic Society of America Summer InstitutesUniversity of Chicago archivesUniversity of Chicago Linguistics faculty – Emeritus categoryEric P. Hamp's member history in the American Philosophical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamp, Eric P. 1920 births 2019 deaths Linguists from the United States Historical linguists Amherst College alumni Harvard University alumni University of Chicago faculty American albanologists Linguists of Indo-European languages Linguists of Slavic languages Etymologists Members of the Academy of Sciences of Albania University of Michigan faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Linguists of Algic languages Linguistic Society of America presidents People from East Orange, New Jersey British emigrants to the United States Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies