Calvert Watkins: Difference between revisions

| name = Calvert Watkins

| image = <!-- Calvert Watkins, Obituary photograph from Harvard Gazette.jpeg -->jpg

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|03|13}}

| birth_place = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], United States

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|03|20|1933|03|13}}

| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], United States

| education = [[Harvard University]] {{Small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], 1954; [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]], 1959)}}

| thesis_title = Indo-European origins of the Celtic verb
| thesis_year = 1962
| discipline = Linguist
| sub_discipline = [[Historical linguistics]]
| notable_works = ''[[How to Kill a Dragon]]''

| title = Victor S. Thomas Professor of Linguistics and Classics

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

| children = Cynthia Watkins, David Cushman, Catherine Cushman, and Nicholas Watkins

| awards = {{Plainlist|

Calvert Watkins was born in [[Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], on March 13, 1933, to Ralph James Watkins, an [[economist]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=2013|title=In Memoriam: Calvert Watkins|url=https://linguistics.ucla.edu/people/Melchert/inmemoriamcalvertwatkins.pdf|journal=The Journal of Indo-European Studies|volume=51|pages=506–526|via=}}</ref> and government advisor,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://dbcs.rutgers.edu/all-scholars/9203-watkins-calvert-ward|title=WATKINS, Calvert Ward|last=Gordon|first=Laura|website=Departmental Web Site Template {{!}} Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-11-10}}</ref> and Willye Ward, a [[Spanish language|Spanish]] teacher who translated the personal memoirs of former Mexican president Gen. [[Antonio López de Santa Anna|Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/07/16/willye-w-watkins-translated-memoirs-of-mexican-president/80c6af60-72c8-40dc-927b-9a4b3f34357c/|title=Willye W. Watkins, Translated Memoirs of Mexican President|worknewspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-10-07|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Much of Watkins's childhood was spent in [[New York City]], and he graduated from [[Friends Seminary]] in [[Manhattan]] before beginning his career at Harvard University.<ref name=":0" /> Watkins's early exposure to Latin and Greek inspired him at the age of fifteen to decide to become an [[Indo-European studies|Indo-Europeanist]].<ref name=":0" />

Watkins received his initial undergraduate degree from [[Harvard University]] in 1954, graduating [[Latin honors|summa cum laude]],<ref name=":2" /> and his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D]] in Linguistics in 1959.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/03/calvert-watkins-dies-at-80/|title=Calvert Watkins dies at 80|date=2013-03-28|work=Harvard Gazette|access-date=2018-10-07|language=en-US}}</ref> During his time at [[Harvard University|Harvard]], Watkins also studied abroad at the [[École pratique des hautes études|École Pratique des Hautes Études]] in [[Paris]], France, from 1954 to 1955 as well as the [[Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies]], School of Celtic Studies from 1957 to 1958.<ref name=":0" />

In 1959, Watkins was initially appointed the position of instructor at [[Harvard University]]. He later became assistant professor in 1960, associate professor with tenure in 1962, and full professor in 1966.<ref name=":0" /> In 1989 Watkins was appointed to the position of Victor. S Thomas Professor of Linguistics and Classics.<ref name=":0" /> Linguists influenced by Watkins during his tenure at Harvard include [[Ives Goddard]], [[Jay Jasanoff]], D. Gary Miller, [[Michael Silverstein]], [[Alice Harris (linguist)|Alice Harris]], [[Craig Melchert|H. Craig Melchert]], [[Alan Nussbaum]], Brent Vine, [[Mark Hale]], [[Andrew Garrett (linguist)|Andrew Garrett]], Joshua Katz and [[Benjamin W. Fortson IV|Benjamin Fortson]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Joseph|first=Brian D.|date=2000|title=Review of "Mír Cuirad: Studies in Honor of Calvert Watkins" by Jay Jasanoff, H. Craig Melchert, & Lisi Oliver|journal= Diachronica|language=en|volume=17|issue=2|pages=451–458|doi=10.1075/dia.17.2.11jos|issn=0176-4225}}</ref>

Upon his retirement from Harvard in 2003, Watkins moved to Los Angeles, California and began teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles alongside his wife, [[Stephanie W. Jamison|Stephanie Jamison]].<ref name=":0" /> Watkins continued to promote the importance of historical linguistics at UCLA by remaining active in the annual UCLA Indo-European Conference.<ref name=":0" /> In 2013, the 25th annual conference was dedicated to the memory of Watkins.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jamison|first1=Stephanie W.|last2=Melchert|first2=H. Craig|last3=Vine|first3=Brent|date=2014|title=Remembrance of Calvert Watkins|url=https://www.academia.edu/16032340|journal=Proceedings of the 25th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference|volume=|pages=1–19|via=}}</ref>

He contributed his expertise on [[Indo-European languages]] to the first edition of ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'' and edited ''The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots'' ({{ISBN|0-618-08250-6}}).<ref name=":3" /> He also pointed out that of all the [[Celtic languages]], [[Old Irish]] is the closest match to the theorized [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo European]] mother tongue and that Old Irish represents an extraordinary ancient language who’s thewhose structure can only be compared with that of [[Vedic Sanskrit]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Watkins|first=Calvert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhMIAQAAIAAJ|title=Indo-European Origins of the Celtic Verb|date=1962|publisher=Dublin Institute for Advances Studies|language=en}}</ref>

''[[How to Kill a Dragon|How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics]]'' was published on November 16, 1995, through [[Oxford University Press]] and attempted to establish a formulaic method of [[Comparative (linguistics)|comparative linguistics]] which exemplified the importance of the poetic formula in order to better trace the development of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] languages by working backwards and identifying patterns from their mother language, Proto-Indo-European.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McCarthy|first=William Bernard|title=Review |jstor=541955|doi=10.2307/541955 |journal=The Journal of American Folklore|volume=112|number=444|pages=220–222|date=Spring 1999}}</ref> The book is divided into two main halves, the first of which acts as a definition and introduction to the study of Indo-European poetics which is expanded upon by implementing Watkins' idea of the "dragon-slaying myth" and defending this concept through a number of case studies involving languages connected by a common theme.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=L'Heureux|first=Marc G.|date=2016-06-16|title=Book Review of How to Kill a Dragon: aspects of Indo-European linguistics|journal=Lingua Frankly|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|doi=10.6017/lf.v1i1.5633|issn=2333-6552|doi-access=free}}</ref> Watkins expands upon the "dragon-slaying myth" in part two of the text by offering new research into his proposed formula of "HERO SLAY SERPENT",<ref name=":1" />, he also attempts to reconstruct an example of Proto-Indo-European through the comparative method of historical linguistics.

* Associé EtrangerÉtranger, Membre de l'Institut (1999)<ref name=":0" />

* ''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ri4sbTiMKN4C&printsec=frontcover&dqq=intitle:How+intitle:to+intitle:kill+intitle:a+intitle:dragon&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&as_brr=0&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false limited preview]

[[Category:Harvard UniversityCollege alumni]]