Jerry Norman (sinologist) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jerry Norman
Born	(1936-07-16)July 16, 1936 Watsonville, California, U.S.
Died	July 7, 2012(2012-07-07) (aged 75) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley (BA, MA, PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions	Princeton University University of Washington
Thesis	The Kienyang Dialect of Fukien (1969)
Academic advisors	Y. R. Chao
Notable students	W. South Coblin
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	羅傑瑞
Simplified Chinese	罗杰瑞
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Luó Jiéruì Gwoyeu Romatzyh Luo Jyeruey Wade–Giles Luo Chieh-jui Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lô Kia̍t-suī Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Lò̤ giĕk sôi
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡝᠯᠪᡳᡥᡝ

Jerry Lee Norman (born July 16, 1936 – died July 7, 2012) was an American expert in Chinese and a language scientist. He was famous for studying different types of Chinese languages, especially the Min varieties. He also studied the Manchu language.

Jerry Norman greatly influenced how people understood Chinese languages. He was very important in showing how Min varieties helped us learn about ancient Chinese.

Jerry Norman's Life and Work

Jerry Norman was born in Watsonville, California, on July 16, 1936. His family were farmers who moved from Oklahoma in the 1930s. They left because of the Dust Bowl, a time when severe dust storms damaged farms.

Early Education and Military Service

In 1954, Jerry started college at the University of Chicago. He studied Russian. But he had to leave after two years because his family needed money.

For a short time, he was a Catholic trainee. Then, he joined the U.S. Army. While in the army, he began learning the Chinese language at a special school in California.

University Studies and Research

After his time in the military, Jerry went to the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his first degree in 1961. He continued his studies there. He learned Chinese from a famous linguist named Y. R. Chao. He also studied Manchu and Mongolian.

In 1965, he earned his master's degree. He then worked on a dictionary for the Fuzhou dialect of Chinese. In 1966, he joined a Chinese language project at Princeton University.

While at Princeton, Jerry traveled to Taiwan. He did research on Taiwanese Hokkien, another Chinese language. In 1969, he earned his highest degree, a Ph.D., from Berkeley. His main project was about the Jianyang dialect of Chinese.

Teaching and Later Career

After getting his Ph.D. in 1969, Jerry became a professor at Princeton. He met and married Stella Chen there, and they had four children.

In 1972, Jerry and his family moved to Seattle, Washington. He joined the faculty at the University of Washington. He taught there until he retired in 1998.

Jerry's main work was on the Min dialects of Chinese. He helped people understand that these dialects were very important for figuring out how ancient Chinese sounds were made. He also loved studying Manchu history and books. He was one of the last experts in North America who could speak and read Manchu fluently.

Jerry Norman passed away in Seattle on July 7, 2012, due to a lung illness.

Selected Works

Jerry Norman wrote many important books and articles about Chinese and Manchu languages. Here are a few examples:

• Norman, Jerry (1978), A Concise Manchu-English Lexicon. This was a dictionary for the Manchu language.
• Norman, Jerry (1988), Chinese. This book was about the Chinese language.
• Norman, Jerry (2013), A Comprehensive Manchu-English Dictionary. This was a very detailed dictionary for Manchu.