Peter Austin (linguist)
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Peter Kenneth Austin, often cited as Peter K. Austin, is an Australian
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 ...
, widely published in the fields of
language documentation Language documentation (also: documentary linguistics) is a subfield of linguistics which aims to describe the grammar and use of human languages. It aims to provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given speec ...
,
syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...
,
linguistic typology Linguistic typology (or language typology) is a field of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural features to allow their comparison. Its aim is to describe and explain the structural diversity and the co ...
and in particular,
endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead langua ...
s and language revitalisation. After a long academic career in Australia, Hong Kong, the US, Japan, Germany and the UK, Austin is
emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...
professor at
SOAS University of London The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...
since retiring in December 2018.


Education and career

After completing a BA degree with first class Honours in Asian Studies (Japanese and Linguistics) in 1974, Austin earned his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
with his thesis entitled ''A grammar of the Diyari language of north-east South Australia'' at 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 ...
(ANU) in 1978. He then taught at the
University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...
, held a Harkness Fellowship at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
(MIT) in 1979–80, and in 1981 headed the Division (later Department) of Linguistics at
La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. He held visiting appointments at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics at
Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...
, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies,
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...
, and
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
, and was Foundation Professor of Linguistics at 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 ...
from 1996 to 2002. He became the Märit Rausing Chair in Field Linguistics in January 2003 and then Emeritus Professor in Field Linguistics at SOAS on his retirement in December 2018. Throughout his career, Austin has been deeply involved in work to document and describe languages that are otherwise on the verge of extinction. He worked with Eli Timan on documenting Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, and with Sabah Aldihisi on Neo-Mandaic ritual language used by the Mandean communities of Syria, Iraq and Iran. During his retirement, he worked with colleagues at
University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...
and
Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
on an EU Horizon2020 Twinning collaboration called the Engaged Humanities project. He also worked with Stefanie Pillai of the
University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...
, on a research project funded by the British Academy in
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
. In 2020 he was awarded a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship (2021-2023) to work on a dictionary of Diyari (South Australia) and a biography of his Diyari teacher Ben Murray.


Work

He has done fieldwork on twelve
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 ...
, particularly those from northern
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
( such as Gamilaraay/Kamilaroi), northern
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, and north-west
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, publishing several bilingual dictionaries. These included, in collaboration with David Nathan, the first fully page-formatted hypertext dictionary of an Australian language, with the creation of the 1994 Gamilaraay online dictionary.


Dieri

He has worked extensively and intensively on the Dieri (Diyari) language of northern SA. He first learned Diyari in 1974, from several fluent native-speakers, including Leslie Russell, Frieda Merrick, Rosa Warren, and Ben Murray, who he encountered in Marree, South Australia. Along with Luise Hercus and David Trefry, he did much research on the language in the 1970s. Austin published a grammar of Diyari in 1981. From 2011 he has been working with the Dieri Aboriginal Corporation on revitalisation of the language. In 2013 he published a draft Diyari dictionary, writing in the preface that a companion grammar was also available, and that a text collection was in preparation. In 2014 he published an article "And still they speak Diyari", in which he wrote of the unique place of the language, as the subject of intensive interest by outsiders as well as native speakers for nearly 140 years, and that not only is it not extinct, but it is living and being maintained for the future. Since 2013 Austin has maintained a blog on Diyari. The blog is one of a number of language revitalisation and reclamation activities held in conjunction with the Dieri community.


Austronesian languages

Since 1995, Austin has also worked on the Austronesian languages Sasak and Samawa, which are spoken on the islands of
Lombok Lombok, is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...
and Sumbawa in the Indonesian archipelago. He has also published works on historical and
comparative linguistics Comparative linguistics is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness implies a common origin or proto-language and comparative linguistics aim ...
, typology, and Aboriginal history and biography.


Awards

Austin has won the following awards and prizes: * 1974: ANU Medal in Linguistics * 1978: Harkness Fellowship of the Commonwealth Fund of New York * 1999: Deutsche Akamedische Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Fellowship) * 2002: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Humboldt Research Award (''Forschungspreis'') * 2010: Grant for a visiting professorship for Professor Anvita Abbi, from the
Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...
* 2010: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Humboldt Research Award * 2015:
Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
from the Faculty of Languages at
Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...
(for playing'' "a crucial international part in drawing attention to endangered languages by emphasising the importance of documenting the human cultural heritage represented by the thousands of languages at risk of vanishing in the near future. His motto that'' 'every lost word means yet another lost world' ''has boosted schools' and the public's interest in endangered languages" ''.) * 2018–19: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Humboldt Research Award * 2020: Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship, for further research on the Diyari language.


Notes


Citations


Sources

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External links

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Curriculum vitae

EL Publishing

''Language Documentation and Description'' journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Peter Academics of SOAS University of London Linguists from Australia Linguists of Australian Aboriginal languages Linguists of Pama–Nyungan languages Linguists of Austronesian languages Living people Syntacticians Year of birth missing (living people) Australian National University alumni