Two very significant deaths

News reached me last night of the deaths of what may have been the last
two remaining students of Edward Sapir.

Murray B. Emeneau, 101, Berkeley Dravidianist and Sanskritist

Norman McQuown, 91, Chicago Americanist

***
The very first class I attended at the University of Chicago was the
first day of introductory phonetics with McQuown. He did not begin with
introductory phonetics, but set the class to minutely transcribing a
brief utterance. I switched to the true introduction to phonetics taught
by Dale Terbeek.

Emeneau participated in the American Oriental Society's plenary session
the last time the AOS met in the Bay Area (can it really have been as
long ago as 1991?), and I spoke with him briefly afterward. He was
utterly charming and helpful!
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.