Aert H. Kuipers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aert H. Kuipers
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| Born | 10 November 1919 Oostkapelle or Middelburg, Netherlands
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| Died | 1 December 2012 |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Linguist |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Leiden University |
| Thesis | A contribution to the analysis of the Qabardian language (1951) |
Aert Hendrik Kuipers (born November 10, 1919, in Oostkapelle or Middelburg, Netherlands; died December 1, 2012) was a Dutch professor who studied languages. He was especially known for his important work with the languages of First Nations people in British Columbia, Canada.
In the 1950s, he did groundbreaking research. He created the first detailed grammar guides for the Squamish and Shuswap languages. These languages are part of the Salishan languages family and were almost disappearing. He also helped other researchers with languages like Lillooet and Nuxalk.
Contents
A Life Dedicated to Languages
Aert Kuipers earned his PhD from Columbia University in 1951. His research was about the Qabardian language. After that, he taught at the University of British Columbia from 1951 to 1954. During this time, he gathered a lot of information about the Squamish language. He also went on another research trip in 1956.
From 1960 to 1983, Kuipers taught linguistics at Leiden University in the Netherlands. After 1971, he became a professor in the department of Slavic languages and culture. He focused on Caucasian languages, which are spoken in the Caucasus region.
Saving Endangered Languages
Professor Kuipers cared deeply about helping to save languages that were at risk of disappearing. He wanted to make sure there was a record of them for the future.
An article in The Economist magazine in 1998 talked about his work. It mentioned how he went to Canada to find and preserve Indigenous languages. He found many languages, some spoken by only a few people. He chose one, learned it, and created a dictionary and a beginner's guide for it.
Major Works
Aert Kuipers wrote and edited many important books and papers. These works helped others learn about and study different languages.
Books He Co-Edited
- 1956: He helped edit The Caucasus (2 volumes). This book was about the languages and people of the Caucasus region.
- 1959: He also co-edited Peoples and Languages of the Caucasus: A synopsis. This was a shorter guide to the many Caucasian languages.
- 1989: He worked with Gabrielle Rainich to edit Russian-English Vocabulary with Grammatical Sketch. This book was made to help people who don't speak Russian understand mathematical texts written in Russian.
Books He Wrote
- 1960: Phoneme and Morpheme in Kabardian (Eastern Adyghe). This book focused on the sounds and word parts of the Kabardian language.
- 1967: The Squamish Language: Grammar, Texts, Dictionary. This was a very important book about the Squamish language. It included grammar rules, stories, and a dictionary.
- 1974: The Shuswap Language: Grammar, Texts, Dictionary. Similar to his Squamish book, this work provided a detailed guide to the Shuswap language.
- 1975: A classified English-Shuswap word-list. This was a list of words in English and Shuswap.
- 1975: A Dictionary of Proto-Circassian Roots. This book looked at the ancient origins of words in Circassian languages.
- 1976: Typologically Salient Features of Some North-West Caucasian Languages. This explored special features of some languages from the Northwest Caucasus.
- 1989: A Report on Shuswap with a Squamish Lexical Appendix. This book provided more information on Shuswap and included a list of Squamish words.
- 2002: Salish Etymological Dictionary. This dictionary explored the history and origins of words in the Salishan languages.
