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| image = Calvert Watkins.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|03|13}}
| birth_place = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]],
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|03|20|1933|03|13}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]],
| education = [[Harvard University]]
| thesis_title = Indo-European origins of the Celtic verb
| thesis_year = 1962
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* [[Stephanie W. Jamison|Stephanie Jamison]] (married 1980)
}}
| children = 4
| awards = {{Plainlist|
* [[Guggenheim Fellowship]]
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'''Calvert Watkins''' ([[Help:IPA/English|/ˈwɒtkɪnz/]]; March 13, 1933 – March 20, 2013) was an American [[Linguistics|linguist]] and [[Philology|philologist]], known for his book ''[[How to Kill a Dragon]]''. He was a professor of [[linguistics]] and the [[classics]] at [[Harvard University]] and after retirement went to serve as professor-in-residence at [[UCLA]].<ref name=":3" />
== Early life and education ==
Calvert Watkins was born in [[Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], on March 13, 1933, to Ralph James Watkins, an [[economist]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|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}}</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|
Watkins received his initial undergraduate degree from [[Harvard University]] in 1954, graduating [[Latin honors|''summa cum laude'']],<ref name=":2" />
▲Calvert Watkins was born in [[Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] on March 13, 1933 to Ralph James Watkins, an [[economist]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|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}}</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|work=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" />
== Career ==
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His doctoral dissertation at [[Harvard University]], ''Indo-European Origins of the Celtic Verb I''. ''The Sigmatic Aorist'' (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1962), which deeply reflected the [[Structural linguistics|structuralist]] approach of [[Jerzy Kuryłowicz]], opened a fresh era of creative work in [[Celtic language|Celtic]] [[comparative linguistics]] and the study of the verbal system of [[Indo-European languages]].
On page 96 of ''Indo-European Origins of the Celtic Verb'' (1962), Watkins noted the following pattern in the history of the Celtic verb, as well as in Polish and Persian: “the development [...] or presence [...] of a zero ending in the 3sg., and the spread of this 3sg. form to other members of the paradigm." This became known in the field as ''Watkins' Law.'' <ref>
Watkins, in a sense, completed his contribution to this area with his ''Indogermanische Grammatik'', vol. 3, part 1: ''Geschichte der indogermanischen Verbalflexion'' (1969). Meanwhile, his work on Indo-European vocabulary and poetics yielded a large number of articles on (among others) [[Celtic languages|Celtic]], [[Anatolian languages|Anatolian]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Italic languages|Italic]] and [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] material, presented directly in his ''Selected Writings'' and indirectly in his book, ''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'' (Oxford University Press, 1995).
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=== ''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'' ===
''[[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.
''Lingua Franca'' reviewer Marc L'Heureux commented that Watkins also implements historical evidence to favor the development of language such as the relationship between the patron and the poet.<ref name=":1" /> He further opined that through the ceremonious delivery from the poet, the word choices became preserved as historical evidence of the language in question. Thus the poet was not only a wielder of great power, according to Watkins as the patron's prestige was inherently tied to the poet's prowess, but a recorder of language that has allowed for research to be conducted in order to better understand the development of ancient languages.<ref name=":1" />
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* Goodwin Award for Classical Studies for ''How to Kill a Dragon'' (1998)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://classicalstudies.org/awards-and-fellowships/list-previous-goodwin-award-winners|title=List of Previous Goodwin Award Winners|date=2010-06-06|work=Society for Classical Studies|access-date=2018-11-11}}</ref>
* President of the [[Linguistic Society of America]] in 1988<ref name=":0" />
* Associé
== Death ==
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==External links==
* {{DBCS}}
* [http://static.scribd.com/docs/km058hvpku1jx.pdf Essay by Calvert Watkins on Indo-European, from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]
* ''How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ri4sbTiMKN4C&
{{Harvard-CA}}
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[[Category:Linguists from the United States]]
[[Category:Celtic studies scholars]]
[[Category:Historical linguists]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Indo-Europeanists]]▼
▲[[Category:Linguists of Indo-European languages]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty]]
[[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]]
[[Category:Harvard College alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Linguistic Society of America presidents]]
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[[Category:Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Linguistic Society of America]]
▲[[Category:Indo-Europeanists]]
[[Category:Linguists of Indo-European languages]]
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