Michael Fortescue facts for kids

Michael David Fortescue was born on August 8, 1946, in Thornbury, United Kingdom. He is a British linguist. This means he studies languages.

Michael Fortescue is an expert in languages from the Arctic and North America. These include Kalaallisut, Inuktun, Chukchi, and Nitinaht. He is famous for figuring out the ancient forms of these languages. These ancient forms are called "proto-languages." He has worked on the Eskaleut, Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Nivkh, and Wakashan language families.

Life and Education

When Michael Fortescue was a teenager, his family moved to California. He went to La Jolla High School from 1956 to 1959. He finished his school studies at Abingdon School in 1963.

In 1966, he earned a special degree in Slavic languages and literatures from the University of California, Berkeley. Slavic languages include Russian. He then taught Russian there from 1968 to 1970. He also completed his master's degree in Slavic languages and literatures.

From 1971 to 1975, he taught English in different countries. He taught at the International Language Centre in Osaka, Japan. He also taught at the University of Aix/Marseille in France.

Becoming a Linguist

Michael Fortescue earned his PhD in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. This was from 1975 to 1978. His special research topic was about how people use language to ask questions.

With a scholarship from Denmark, he visited the University of Copenhagen. He also did fieldwork in Greenland in 1978-1979. Fieldwork means studying languages by living with people who speak them. The Danish Research Council for the Humanities supported his research from 1979 to 1982.

In 1984, he became an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. He specialized in "eskimology," which is the study of Inuit and related cultures and languages. In 1989, he became a "docent," which is a higher academic title. He became a full professor of linguistics in 1999. He retired from this position in 2011.

Later Career and Recognition

When he retired in 2011, a special issue of the journal Grønland was published in his honor. This type of publication is called a festschrift. After retiring, he moved to England. There, he became an associate of St Hugh's College.

Another book was published in his honor in 2017. In 2019, he was chosen to be part of the Academia Europaea. This is an important group of top scientists and scholars in Europe.

He was also the chairman of the Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen from 2005 to 2011.

Key Works

Michael Fortescue has written several important books about languages.

• His book Comparative Eskimo Dictionary, written with Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan, is a main resource for studying Eskimo languages. A dictionary like this helps compare words across different languages.
• His Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary is also a very important book in its field.
• In his book Pattern and Process, Fortescue explores how language works. He connects his ideas to the philosophical theories of Alfred North Whitehead.

Here are some of his selected works:

• 1984. Some Problems Concerning the Correlation and Reconstruction of Eskimo and Aleut Mood Markers.
• 1990. From the Writings of the Greenlanders: Kalaallit Atuakklaannit.
• 1991. Inuktun: An Introduction to the Language of Qaanaaq, Thule.
• 1992. Editor. Layered Structure and Reference in a Functional Perspective.
• 1994. With Steven Jacobson and Lawrence Kaplan. Comparative Eskimo Dictionary with Aleut Cognates.
• 1998. Language Relations across Bering Strait: Reappraising the Archaeological and Linguistic Evidence.
• 2001. Pattern and Process: A Whiteheadian Perspective on Linguistics.
• 2002. The Domain of Language.
• 2005. Comparative Chukotko-Kamchatkan Dictionary.
• 2007. Comparative Wakashan Dictionary.
• 2016. Comparative Nivkh Dictionary.

See also

In Spanish: Michael Fortescue para niños

• Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan language
• Proto-Eskaleut language
• Uralo-Siberian languages
• List of Old Abingdonians