Nils Magnus Holmer (1905–1994) was a Swedish

linguist 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 ...

Education and research

Holmer initially studied

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

, where he focused on

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

linguistics. In the 1920s, Holmer was a guest student at a university in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, where he switched to studying

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 ...

. Holmer spent four months in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

in the mid-1930s. From June to July 1935, he was in Argyllshire on the

Isle of Gigha Gigha ( ; ; ) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is mild with higher than average suns ...

, off

Kintyre Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East Loch Tarbert, Argyll, East and West Loch Tarbert, Argyll, West Loch Tarbert in t ...

where he met and conversed with almost the whole population of about 100 people. From March to June 1936 he stayed in the Rhinns (mostly at Port Charlotte where he lived with a family who spoke idiomatic Gaelic. He visited other parts of the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

- and English-speaking Highlands, especially the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

from July to August 1935, where he became acquainted with the common speech of the "

Strath A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow (as opposed to a glen, which is typically narrower and deep). Word and etymology An anglicisation of the Gaelic word , it is one of many that have been absorbed i ...

" between Broadford and Torrin. During this time, he amassed a significant collection of vocabulary, knowledge and tradition from the last regularly

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

-speaking generation in particular the southern dialects of

, Arran and

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

whose speakers had mostly died by the 1950s. He published several books and articles on the topicChelliah, S. and de Reuse, Willem ''The History of Linguistic Fieldwork'' (2011) Springer and this material is the largest body of evidence for how this dialect was used and spoken in everyday life. Experts in the Gaelic Society of Inverness considered Holmer to be a gifted scholar in the area. Holmer carried out fieldwork across a wide range of languages across several continents, including Irish,

Siouan languages Siouan ( ), also known as Siouan–Catawban ( ), is a language family of North America located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who ...

, the Central American language

Guna Guna may refer to: People * Guna people, Indigenous peoples of Panama and Colombia Philosophy * Guṇa, a Hindu philosophical concept * Guṇa (Jainism), a philosophical concept Places * Guna district, in Madhya Pradesh, India ** Guna, Indi ...

and the South American language of Choco and

Wayuu The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayú, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Indigenous ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Arawakan language family. Throughout their history, they ...

. He was "deeply immersed" in the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

language. His contact with the

Algonquian languages The Algonquian languages ( ; also Algonkian) are a family of Indigenous languages of the Americas and most of the languages in the Algic language family are included in the group. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from ...

Iroquoian languages The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...

was believed by Proinsias Ó Drisceoil to have influenced what Drisceoil concluded was Holmer's "most important work" in grammatical typology. During the 1960s and 1970s he conducted extensive fieldwork into several

Australian Aboriginal languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

including recording the

Maric languages Maran or Maric is an extinct branch of the Pama–Nyungan languages, Pama–Nyungan family of Australian languages formerly spoken throughout much of Queensland by many of the Murri peoples. The well attested Maric languages are clearly related ...

in the Warrego and Maranoa rivers region from several speakers in the 1960s. Holmer salvaged as much as he could from

Wakka Wakka Wakka Wakka, or Waka Waka, people are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland. Name "''Wakka''" was assigned the meaning "no" by Western linguists who documented the Wakawaka language. Ethnonyms based on the duplication of t ...

language, analysing and publishing the results. He recorded and analysed the Dhanggati or Djangadi language in 1969.PDF
/ref> His work was helpful in the efforts of the Ngabu Bingayi Aboriginal Corporation to promote study of the language at Kempsey

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

. He also compiled a grammar and dictionary for the Mununjali language in 1978.

Career

Holmer was 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 ...

between 1949 and 1969. After his retirement, he moved to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, where he lived for a few years near

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

. Whilst there, he conducted research into the surviving speakers of

Loch Etive Loch Etive (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Eite'') is a 30 Kilometre, km loch, sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It reaches the sea at Connel, 5 km north of Oban. It measures 31.6 km (19 miles) long and fr ...

-side Gaelic. Holmer is notable as the only Swede to have three articles published in the journal ''

Language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

''.Sigurd, Bengt ''Svensk språkforskning under 1900-talet'' Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings

Personal life

Holmer was born in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden, in 1905. He married Vanja E. He died in Sweden in 1994.

References

Bibliography

* Holmer, Nils M.''Studies on Argyllshire Gaelic''. Uppsala et Leipzig, (''Skrifter utgivna av K. Humanistika Vetenskaps Samfundet i Uppsala'', 1938 * Holmer, N M. ''On Some Relics of the Irish Dialect spoken in the Glens of Antrim: with an Attempt toward the Reconstruction of Northeastern Irish; Being a Report of a Visit to the Glens of Antrim in 1937'' Uppsala Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeri a.b. 1940. * Holmer N M, ''The Irish Language in Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim'', Todd Lecture Series; iom-leabhar 18, Royal Irish Academy agus Hodges, Figgis, Baile Átha Cliath, 1942. * Holmer, Nils Magnus. ''Critical and comparative grammar of the Cuna language'', Göteborg : tnografiska Museet 1947 * Holmer, Nils M. ''Indian Place Names in North America''. Upsala: The American Institute in the University of Upsala, 1948. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''Ethno-linguistic Cuna dictionary'', Göteborg : Etnografiska Museet, 1952. * Holmer, Nils M. ''The Seneca language; a study in Iroquoian'', Upsala, Lundequist 1954 * Holmer, Nils M. ''The Gaelic of Arran''. Dublin, The Institute for Advanced Studies, 1957 * Holmer, N M. ''The Dialects of Co. Clare (Part 1)'', Todd Lecture Series, iom-leabhar 19–20. Royal Irish Academy agus Hodges, Figgis, Baile Átha Cliath, 1962 * Holmer, Nils M. ''On the history and structure of the Australian languages'', Upsala : Lundequistka bokhandeln, 1963. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''El idioma vasco hablado : un estudio de dialectología euskérica'', San Sebastian, 1964. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''The Indian place names in Mexico and Central America'' Uppsala : Lundequistska bokhandeln, 1964. * Holmer, N M ''The Dialects of Co. Clare (part 2)'', Todd Lecture Series, iom- leabhar 19–20, Royal Irish Academy agus Hodges, Figgis, Baile Átha Cliath, 1965. * Holmer, Nils M. ''An Attempt towards a Comparative Grammar of Two Australian Languages.'' Canberra

Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

, 1966. * Holmer, Nils Magnus, ''Oceanic semantics : a study in the framing of concepts in the native languages of Australia and Oceania'', Uppsala : Ludequistska bokhandeln, 1966. * Holmer, Nils Magnus and Holmer, Vanja E. ''Stories from two native tribes of Eastern Australia'', Upsala : A.-b. Lundequistska bokhandeln, 1969. * Holmer, Nils Magnus ''A comparative typological analysis of a New Guinea language'', Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksell Periodicals Co, 1971. * Holmer, Nils M ''Notes on the Bandjalang Dialect. Spoken at Coraki and Bungawalbin Creek, N.S.W.'' Canberra. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies., 197 * Holmer, Nils Magnus. ''Linguistic survey of South-Eastern Queensland''., Canberra : Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1983. * Holmer, Nils M. ''Notes on some Queensland languages'', Canberra, A.C.T., Australia : Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmer, Nils Scottish Gaelic language 1904 births 1994 deaths Linguists of Iroquoian languages 20th-century Swedish linguists Lund University alumni