Lyle Campbell

Lyle Richard Campbell ( born October 22, 1942 in Oregon ) is an American linguist. Its main focus is on the historical linguistics and the indigenous American languages ​​, especially on those of Central America. The Finno - Ugric Studies also part of his research area. He is currently a professor of linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Life and work

Campbell grew up in Oregon. He made his 1966 B. A. in archeology and anthropology, then wanted to do but claims to be something that is important and which the people could benefit; accordingly he made a year later, the M. A. in Historical Linguistics at the University of Washington. His master's thesis dealt with Finnish phonology. In 1971 he received his Ph.D. at UCLA. He worked mainly on the documentation of the diverse Latin American languages ​​and their linguistic investigation. Many of these indigenous languages ​​are threatened with extinction, such as the Nawat ( Pipil ) and the Poton ( Lenca ) in El Salvador. In his dissertation he examined the eight dialects of the Quiché language, which is the most widely spoken Mayan language in Guatemala today.

Campbell already taught at the following universities:

Campbell has also been held guest lectures at many universities, including in Hamburg, Mexico and Helsinki.

1998 and 2000 he was awarded by the Linguistic Society of America is the Leonard Bloomfield Book Award.