William Bright - Expert in indigenous languages
Thursday, October 26th, 2006
Too often, things that should be cherished and revered are rolled over by the next “civilization” to come down the pike. Anyone who helps to undo that destruction should be remembered for their good works. William Bright is such a man. He died on October 15, 2006 in Louisville, Colorado at the age of 78.
Having spent more than 50 years studying the indigenous languages of the United States, Bright was professor adjoint of linguistics at the University of Colorado, Boulder and was emeritus professor of linguistics and anthropology at the the University of California, Los Angeles. He was an authority on the native languages and cultures of California and was known in particular for his work on Karuk (also spelled Karok), an American Indian language from the northwest part of the state.
The tribe recently published a Karuk dictionary, compiled by Mr. Bright and Susan Gehr. Now, Karuk children learn their language in tribal schools and with the help of Bright and Gehr are bringing the language back from the brink of extinction.
His books include “American Indian Linguistics and Literature” (Mouton, 1984); “A Coyote Reader” (University of California, 1993); “1,500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning” (University of California, 1998); and “Native American Placenames of the United States” (University of Oklahoma” , 2004).
For more information:
Go to William Bright, Linguistic Home Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bright
Popularity: 19%
were not waisting a legacy. In doing so, she conserved thousands of rare and unusual books, movies, sound recordings, photographs, letters and ephemera dating as far back as the slave era. With no institutional support she amassed over time what experts today regard as a valuable collection of Black Americana. For years she stacked her treasures in her garage, prayed the roof wouldn’t leak and hoped that one day she would be able to share them with the rest of us.