David Appleyard
Encyclopedia
David Appleyard is a British academic and an expert on Ethiopian languages and linguistics.
He is Professor Emeritus of the Languages of the Horn of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS) in the University of London, where he specialized in Amharic and other Ethiopian Semitic languages
, as well as various Cushitic languages
of the region. He went first to SOAS as a student in 1968, studying Amharic and Linguistics, and completed his doctorate there on the Semitic basis of the Amharic lexicon in 1975, with Edward Ullendorff
as supervisor. He then joined the staff at SOAS where he remained from 1975 until his retirement in September 2006. He taught Amharic language and literature, as well as courses on Ge’ez, Tigrinya, Somali, Oromo, African linguistics, and Ethiopian cultural history.
His linguistic research focuses both on Ethiopian Semitic and Cushitic, especially on the Central Cushitic or Agaw languages on which he has published numerous articles and monographs and a book. He has also published on Ethiopian linguistics in general, Ethiopian manuscripts, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and has published a beginner’s textbook for learning Amharic, Colloquial Amharic.
He acts as a consultant on Ethiopian manuscripts and magic scrolls, and has worked for, amongst others, Christie’s of London, Sam Fogg Rare Books of London, and Princeton University Library. He is also currently English language editor for the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica
.
and A.K. Irvine. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy.
1986 Agaw, Cushitic and Afroasiatic. Journal of Semitic Studies 31,2:195-236.
1987 A grammatical sketch of Khamtanga. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 50,2:241-266; 50,3:470-507.
1988 The Agaw languages: a comparative morphological perspective. In Taddese Beyene (ed.) Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies 1:581-592. Huntingdon: Elm Press.
1993 Ethiopian Manuscripts. London: Jed Press.
1993 Vocalic ablaut and aspect marking in the verb in Agaw. Journal of Afroasiatic Languages 3,2:126-150.
1994 A Falasha prayer text in Agaw. In Gideon Goldenberg & Shlomo Raz (eds.) Semitic and Cushitic Studies 206-251. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
1995 Colloquial Amharic. A Complete Language Course. London & New York: Routledge.
1996 Ethiopian Semitic and South Arabian: towards a re-examination of a relationship. Israel Oriental Studies 16:203-228.
1998 Language death – the case of Qwarenya (Ethiopia). In Matthias Brenzinger (ed.) Endangered Languages in Africa 143-161. Köln: Köppe Verlag.
1999 Afroasiatic and the Nostratic Hypothesis. In Colin Renfrew & Daniel Nettle (eds.) Nostratic: Examining a Linguistic Macrofamily 289-314. Cambridge: The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
2002 The morphology of main and subordinate verb form marking, with special reference to Ethiopian Semitic and Agaw. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 71:9-31.
2006 A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw languages. Köln: Köppe Verlag.
2007 Ethiopian Christianity. In Ken Parry (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity 117-136. Oxford: Blackwell.
2007 Beja morphology. In Alan Kaye (ed.) Morphologies of Africa and Asia 1:447-479. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
2007 The Horn of Africa, with Martin Orwin. In Andrew Simpson (ed.) Language and National Identity in Africa. 267-290. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
He is Professor Emeritus of the Languages of the Horn of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
(SOAS) in the University of London, where he specialized in Amharic and other Ethiopian Semitic languages
Ethiopian Semitic languages
Ethiopian Semitic is a language group, which together with Old South Arabian forms the Western branch of the South Semitic languages. The languages are spoken in both Ethiopia and Eritrea...
, as well as various Cushitic languages
Cushitic languages
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. They are named after the Biblical character Cush, who was identified as an ancestor of the speakers of these specific languages as early as AD 947...
of the region. He went first to SOAS as a student in 1968, studying Amharic and Linguistics, and completed his doctorate there on the Semitic basis of the Amharic lexicon in 1975, with Edward Ullendorff
Edward Ullendorff
Edward Ullendorff FBA was a British scholar and historian, especially in Semitic languages and Ethiopia.-Biography:...
as supervisor. He then joined the staff at SOAS where he remained from 1975 until his retirement in September 2006. He taught Amharic language and literature, as well as courses on Ge’ez, Tigrinya, Somali, Oromo, African linguistics, and Ethiopian cultural history.
His linguistic research focuses both on Ethiopian Semitic and Cushitic, especially on the Central Cushitic or Agaw languages on which he has published numerous articles and monographs and a book. He has also published on Ethiopian linguistics in general, Ethiopian manuscripts, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and has published a beginner’s textbook for learning Amharic, Colloquial Amharic.
He acts as a consultant on Ethiopian manuscripts and magic scrolls, and has worked for, amongst others, Christie’s of London, Sam Fogg Rare Books of London, and Princeton University Library. He is also currently English language editor for the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica
Encyclopaedia aethiopica
The Encyclopaedia Aethiopica is the basic reference work for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies. The Encyclopaedia Aethiopica provides access to reliable and state-of-the art information in all fields of the discipline, i.e. anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, history, geography, languages and...
.
Select bibliography
1985 Letters from Ethiopian Rulers (Early and Mid-Nineteenth Century) with Richard PankhurstRichard Pankhurst (academic)
Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE is a British academic with expertise in the study of Ethiopia.-Early life and education:...
and A.K. Irvine. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy.
1986 Agaw, Cushitic and Afroasiatic. Journal of Semitic Studies 31,2:195-236.
1987 A grammatical sketch of Khamtanga. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 50,2:241-266; 50,3:470-507.
1988 The Agaw languages: a comparative morphological perspective. In Taddese Beyene (ed.) Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies 1:581-592. Huntingdon: Elm Press.
1993 Ethiopian Manuscripts. London: Jed Press.
1993 Vocalic ablaut and aspect marking in the verb in Agaw. Journal of Afroasiatic Languages 3,2:126-150.
1994 A Falasha prayer text in Agaw. In Gideon Goldenberg & Shlomo Raz (eds.) Semitic and Cushitic Studies 206-251. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
1995 Colloquial Amharic. A Complete Language Course. London & New York: Routledge.
1996 Ethiopian Semitic and South Arabian: towards a re-examination of a relationship. Israel Oriental Studies 16:203-228.
1998 Language death – the case of Qwarenya (Ethiopia). In Matthias Brenzinger (ed.) Endangered Languages in Africa 143-161. Köln: Köppe Verlag.
1999 Afroasiatic and the Nostratic Hypothesis. In Colin Renfrew & Daniel Nettle (eds.) Nostratic: Examining a Linguistic Macrofamily 289-314. Cambridge: The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
2002 The morphology of main and subordinate verb form marking, with special reference to Ethiopian Semitic and Agaw. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 71:9-31.
2006 A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw languages. Köln: Köppe Verlag.
2007 Ethiopian Christianity. In Ken Parry (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity 117-136. Oxford: Blackwell.
2007 Beja morphology. In Alan Kaye (ed.) Morphologies of Africa and Asia 1:447-479. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
2007 The Horn of Africa, with Martin Orwin. In Andrew Simpson (ed.) Language and National Identity in Africa. 267-290. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
External links
- Routledge Colloquial Amharic
- Sam Fogg Rare Books
- Princeton University Library
- Encyclopaedia Aethiopica
- Biography at the Hans RausingHans RausingHans Rausing, KBE, is a Swedish businessman based in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak , a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world...
Endangered LanguagesEndangered languageAn endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language"....
Project - Bibliography at the School of Oriental and African StudiesSchool of Oriental and African StudiesThe School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...