Joshua Whatmough
English linguist (1897–1964)
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Joshua Whatmough (June 30, 1897 – April 25, 1964) was an English linguist, professor, and writer from Rochdale, Lancashire who served as the president of the Linguistics Society of America in 1951.[1] He was also the chairman of the department of comparative philology at Harvard University (renamed to "linguistics" under his leadership in 1951) from 1926 to his retirement in 1963.[2] He studied comparative philology and classics at the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge.[3][4]
Biography
Whatmough was born in Rochdale, England, the son of iron moulder and a wool weaver Walter and Elizabeth (née Hollows) Whatmough. He received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Manchester in 1919. He graduated also with an M.A. from Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1926.[5] He additionally received an honorary doctorate from the University of Dublin.[2] His first teaching job was at the University College of North Wales. He was married to G. Verona Taylor with whom he had 2 children.[3]
Books
- Language: A Modern Synthesis 1956, reissued in paperback
- Language, The Measure of Man (1963)
- The Dialects of Ancient Gaul[2] (1970)