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Edward Sapir

About

Sapir

About

Sapir

Edward Sapir January 26, 1884 – February 4, 1939) was an American anthropologist-linguist, who is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of the discipline of linguistics in the United States.

Author

Sapir was born in German Pomerania, in what is now northern Poland. His family emigrated to the United States of America when he was a child. He studied Germanic linguistics at Columbia, where he came under the influence of Franz Boas, who inspired him to work on Native American languages.

Education

Sapir emphasized language study in his college years at Columbia, studying Latin, Greek, and French for eight semesters. From his sophomore year he additionally began to focus on Germanic languages, completing coursework in Gothic, Old High German, Old Saxon, Icelandic, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish.

Important Event

Accomplishments

In his whole life Sapir had a lot of accomplishments.

Important Event

1

Sapir was exposed to methods of comparative linguistics that were being developed into a more scientific framework than the traditional philological approach. He also took courses in Sanskrit, and complemented his language studies by studying music in the department of the famous composer Edward MacDowell (though it is uncertain whether Sapir ever studied with MacDowell himself).

Sapir was allowed to participate in the Boas graduate seminar on American Languages, which included translations of Native American and Inuit myths collected by Boas. In this way Sapir was introduced to Indigenous American languages while he kept working on his M.A. in Germanic linguistics.

2

  • In the years 1910–25 Sapir established and directed the Anthropological Division in the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa.

  • In 1915 Sapir returned to California, where his expertise on the Yana language made him urgently needed.

  • The First World War took its toll on the Canadian Geological Survey, cutting funding for anthropology and making the academic climate less agreeable.

Interesting Facts

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