Robert Lawrence Trask (10 November 1944 – 27 March 2004) was an American-British professor of

linguistics 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 ...

at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

, and an authority on the

Basque language Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque ...

and the field 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 ...

Biography

Born in

Olean, New York Olean ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. Olean is the largest city in Cattaraugus County and serves as its financial, business, transportation and entertainment center. It is ...

, he initially studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

in his home country, but – after a brief stint in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

– he took an interest in linguistics. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in linguistics from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, and thereafter taught at various universities in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He became a professor of linguistics at the University of Sussex. He was considered an authority on the Basque language: his book ''The History of Basque'' (1997) is an essential reference on diachronic Basque linguistics and probably the best introduction to Basque linguistics as a whole. He was at work compiling an

etymological dictionary An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' and ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Webster's'', will contain some etymological informat ...

of that language when he died; the unfinished work was posthumously published on the Internet by Max W. Wheeler. He was also an authority on

, and had written about the problem of the

origin of language The origin of language, its relationship with human evolution, and its consequences have been subjects of study for centuries. Scholars wishing to study the origins of language draw inferences from evidence such as the fossil record, archaeolog ...

. He also published two introductory books to linguistics: ''Language: The basics'' (1995) and ''Introducing Linguistics'' (coauthored with Bill Mayblin) (2000), and several dictionaries on different topics of this science: ''A dictionary of grammatical terms in linguistics'' (1993), ''A dictionary of phonetics and phonology'' (1996), ''A student's dictionary of language and linguistics'' (1997), ''Key concepts in language and linguistics'' (1999), ''The dictionary of historical and comparative linguistics'' (2000) and ''The Penguin dictionary of English grammar'' (2000). Trask died on 27 March 2004 as a result of complications from

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(ALS), aged 59.

Publication

* ''Language Change'' (1994) * ''Historical Linguistics'' (1996), * ''The Penguin Guide to Punctuation'' (1997) * ''The History of Basque'' (1997), * ''The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics'' (2000), * ''The Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar'' (2000), * ''Time Depth in Historical Linguistics'' (co-editor) (2000), * ''Mind the Gaffe'' (2001), * ''How to Write Effective Emails'' (2005),

References

External links

The Larry Trask Archive

with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
Contributions
t
Ask-a-Linguist
* ttp://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/ Larry Trask's Guide to Punctuation* Obituaries *
The Guardian
*

*
Linguist List
*

*
University of Sussex Newsletter (includes a photograph)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trask, Larry 1944 births 2004 deaths Academics of the University of Liverpool Academics of the University of Sussex Academics of the University of Westminster Academic staff of Middle East Technical University Alumni of SOAS University of London American emigrants to England American expatriate academics in the United Kingdom Linguists of Basque Deaths from motor neuron disease in England Historical linguists 20th-century people from New York (state) 20th-century American linguists Alumni of the Polytechnic of Central London 20th-century British linguists