Peter Nielsen Ladefoged ( , ; 17 September 1925 – 24 January 2006) was a British
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 ...
and
phonetician.
He was Professor of Phonetics at
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
(UCLA), where he taught from 1962 to 1991. His book ''
A Course in Phonetics'' is a common introductory text in phonetics, and ''
The Sounds of the World's Languages'' (co-authored with
Ian Maddieson) is widely regarded as a standard phonetics reference. Ladefoged also wrote several books on the phonetics of
African languages. Prior to UCLA, he was a lecturer at the universities of
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 ...
in
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 ...
(1953–59, 1960–61) and the
University of Ibadan in
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
(1959–60).
Early life
Peter Ladefoged was born on 17 September 1925, in
Sutton (then in
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, now in
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
), England. He attended
Haileybury College from 1938 to 1943, and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
,
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
from 1943 to 1944. He received an
MA (1951) and a PhD (1959) in Phonetics from 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 ...
in 1959.
Career
Ladefoged was involved with the phonetics laboratory at UCLA, which he established in 1962. He also was interested in listening to and describing every sound used in spoken human language, which he estimated at 900
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...
s and 200
vowel
A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...
s. This research formed the basis of much of ''
The Sounds of the World's Languages''. In 1966 Ladefoged moved from the UCLA English Department to join the newly established Linguistics Department.
While at UCLA, Ladefoged was hired as a consultant on the movie ''
My Fair Lady''. He wrote the transcriptions that can be seen in Professor Higgins's notebook, and his voice was used in the scenes where Higgins describes vowel pronunciation.
Ladefoged was also a member of the
International Phonetic Association for a long time, and was President of the Association from 1986 to 1991. He was deeply involved in maintaining its
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation ...
, and was the principal mover of the 1989
International Phonetic Association Kiel Convention. He was also editor of the ''Journal of the International Phonetic Association''. Ladefoged served on the board of directors of the
Endangered Language Fund since its inception.
In 1992, Ladefoged appeared on the
Bill Bixby-hosted TV special ''The Elvis Conspiracy'' to give his professional opinion that 1980s recordings purported to be the voice of
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
were not authentic.
Ladefoged was a founding member of the
Association for Laboratory Phonology.
Personal life
Ladefoged married Jenny MacDonald in 1953, a marriage which lasted over 50 years.
They had three children: Lise Friedman, a bookseller; Thegn Ladefoged,
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and professor of
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
at
University of Auckland; and Katie Ladefoged, attorney and
public defender, residing in
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, Tennessee.
He also had five grandchildren Zelda Ladefoged, Ethan Friedman, Amy Friedman, Joseph Weiss, and Catherine Weiss.
On May 5, 1970, Ladefoged was arrested and sustained injuries from police while participating in an anti–Vietnam War protest 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 ...
. He was initially charged with failure to disperse, but the charge was later changed to assault on a police officer. He was acquitted in the first trial.
Death
Ladefoged died on 24 January 2006 at the age of 80 in hospital in London, England after a research trip to India.
He was on his way home to Los Angeles, California from his research trip.
Academic timeline
* 1953–55: Assistant Lecturer in Phonetics, University of Edinburgh
* 1955–59: Lecturer in Phonetics, University of Edinburgh
* 1959–60: Lecturer in Phonetics,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
* 1960–61: Lecturer in Phonetics, University of Edinburgh
* 1961–62: Field fellow, Linguistic Survey of West Africa, Nigeria
* Summer 1960:
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 ...
* Summer 1961:
Royal Institute of Technology,
ungliga Tekniska högskolan or KTH (
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
)
* 1962–63: Assistant Professor of Phonetics, Department of English, UCLA
* 1962: Established, and directed until 1991, the UCLA Phonetics Laboratory
* 1963–65: Associate Professor of Phonetics, Department of Linguistics], UCLA
* 1965–91: Professor of Phonetics, Department of Linguistics, UCLA
* 1977–80: Chair, Department of Linguistics, UCLA
* 1991: "retired" to become UCLA Research Linguist, Distinguished Professor of Phonetics Emeritus
* 2005: Leverhulme Professor, University of Edinburgh
* 2005–06: Adjunct professor at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
(USC)
Academic honours
* Fellow of the
Acoustical Society of America
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...
* Fellow of the
American Speech and Hearing Association
* Distinguished Teaching Award, UCLA 1972
* President,
Linguistic Society of America, 1978
* President of the Permanent Council for the Organization of International Congresses of Phonetic Sciences, 1983–1991
* President,
International Phonetic Association, 1987–1991
* UCLA Research Lecturer 1989
* Fellow of 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 ...
1990
* UCLA College of Letters and Science Faculty Research Lecturer 1991
* Gold medal, XIIth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences 1991
* Corresponding Fellow of the
British Academy 1992
* Honorary D.Litt., University of Edinburgh, 1993
* Foreign Member,
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 1993
* Silver medal,
Acoustical Society of America
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...
1994
* Corresponding Fellow,
Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2001
* Honorary D.Sc.
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, 2002
Selected publications
*
Monograph supplement to ''Revista do Laboratório de Fonética Experimental da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra''
(Journal of Experimental Phonetics Laboratory of the Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra).
* Paperback edition 1971. Translation into Japanese, Taishukan Publishing Company, 1976. Second edition, with added chapters on computational phonetics 1996.
* Reprinted 1968.
*
*
*
* 2nd ed 1982, 3rd ed. 1993, 4th ed. 2001, 5th ed. Boston:
Thomson/Wadsworth 2006, 6th ed. 2011 (co-author Keith Johnson) Boston: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. Japanese translation 2000.
*
* 2001, 2nd ed. 2004.
*
*
*
Works involved in or about
*
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...
(director),
Alan Jay Lerner (lyricist): ''
My Fair Lady''. Motion picture film. (1964).
*
References
External links
*
Peter Ladefoged's home page at UCLA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladefoged, Peter
1925 births
2006 deaths
People from Sutton, London
Linguists from England
Phoneticians
Speech perception researchers
People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
British expatriates in Nigeria
Academic staff of the University of Ibadan
Linguists of Eskaleut languages
Linguists of Muskogean languages
Linguistic Society of America presidents
Corresponding fellows of the British Academy
20th-century British linguists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh