Edward W. Moser
Encyclopedia
Edward W. Moser was an American linguist
and expert in the Seri
language
and culture working with the Summer institute of Linguistics
.
, Illinois
. Son of a Baptist
minister, he lived in various communities in Illinois, Indiana
, Iowa
and New York State. During World War II
he served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater. In 1946 he married Mary Beck
(better known later as Becky) and in 1948 completed his B.A. degree in history at Wheaton College
(Illinois). Becky and Edward studied descriptive linguistics at the Summer Institute of Linguistics program at the University of Oklahoma. In 1951 they went to live in the Mexican state of Sonora
to live with the Seri people and learn the Seri language
under the auspices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
They built a small three room adobe
house in the Seri fishing camp called Haxöl Iihom; the camp eventually became known in Spanish as El Desemboque
. This house served as their residence during the next twenty-five years. Two more small rooms and a small office were added ten years after the birth of their daughter Cathy. The home was frequently visited by scientists studying in the area.
The Mosers worked with others to help fight an early measles
epidemic by distributing gamma globulin
, provided emergency medical help and transportation to the hospital (90 miles away by dirt road to the Sonora state capital, Hermosillo
) in the years before a government clinic was set up in Haxöl Iihom, helped provide water to the village, and helped the people in numerous other ways. During these years the Seri population began to rebound, increasing from about 215 in 1951 to more than 800 by 2005.
, morphology
and grammar
. A major collaborator with them on their work at that time was Roberto Herrera Marcos, a Seri man who also resided in Haxöl Iihom. Their earliest publications were Seri reading primers that were published by SIL in cooperation with the Secretaría de Educación Pública
after developing the first alphabet for the language under the guidelines of that Mexican ministry. Later work produced books of traditional Seri stories.
During their years of residence, the Mosers collected extensive lexical and cultural information, much of which would be published later in various books and articles. Recorded legends and history were published in the Seri language, and some appear in later collections in English and Spanish. A Seri-Spanish vocabulary book was published in 1961, an ethnobotany
(with botanist Richard S. Felger) in 1985 (which has been hailed as a modern classic), and a major dictionary in 2005, thirty years after Edward’s death, but based largely on work that he and Roberto Herrera Marcos (a.k.a. Roberto Herrera Thomson) had done. What is known today about Seri history and culture, including the so-called “band” structure of this group, is the result of work that the Mosers and Herrera did. Even work that does not bear either of their names as authors, such as the article in the journal Science about hibernating sea turtles, the book about the San Esteban people, and the 2005 dictionary, as well as most work on the Seri language and culture during the past half century) is part of their legacy.
The Mosers and Herrera also worked on a translation of the New Testament
which was also completed in 1982, a few years after Edward’s death.
Edward completed a Master’s degree in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1966. Edward and Becky spent many summers (more than twenty for Edward, more than forty for Becky) at the University of North Dakota
giving linguistics courses through the Summer Institute of Linguistics program.
Edward’s interest in the well-being of the Seri people and in their rich culture and history was unflagging up until his sudden and unexpected death in 1976. At about that same time, a Mexican government-sponsored building project in Haxöl Iihom laid out the first streets, and the street in front of Mosers’ home was called Calle Eduardo Moser, a name which it still bears today.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and expert in the Seri
Seri language
Seri is a language isolate spoken by the Seri people by between 716 and 900 people in two villages on the coast of Sonora, Mexico.-Classification:...
language
Seri language
Seri is a language isolate spoken by the Seri people by between 716 and 900 people in two villages on the coast of Sonora, Mexico.-Classification:...
and culture working with the Summer institute of Linguistics
SIL International
SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...
.
Life and career
He was born in 1924 in JolietJoliet, Illinois
Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Son of a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister, he lived in various communities in Illinois, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and New York State. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater. In 1946 he married Mary Beck
Mary B. Moser
Mary Margaret Beck Moser is an American field linguist and Bible translator who worked on behalf of the Seri people of Mexico for more than fifty years...
(better known later as Becky) and in 1948 completed his B.A. degree in history at Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
(Illinois). Becky and Edward studied descriptive linguistics at the Summer Institute of Linguistics program at the University of Oklahoma. In 1951 they went to live in the Mexican state of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
to live with the Seri people and learn the Seri language
Seri language
Seri is a language isolate spoken by the Seri people by between 716 and 900 people in two villages on the coast of Sonora, Mexico.-Classification:...
under the auspices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
They built a small three room adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
house in the Seri fishing camp called Haxöl Iihom; the camp eventually became known in Spanish as El Desemboque
El Desemboque
El Desemboque, known as "Haxöl Iihom" in the Seri language, is a town located 376 km from Hermosillo on the shore of Gulf of California in the Mexican state of Sonora; coordinates N 29° 30' 13", W 112° 23' 43". It is one of two major villages on the Seri Indian communal property, the other being...
. This house served as their residence during the next twenty-five years. Two more small rooms and a small office were added ten years after the birth of their daughter Cathy. The home was frequently visited by scientists studying in the area.
The Mosers worked with others to help fight an early measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
epidemic by distributing gamma globulin
Gamma globulin
Gamma globulins are a class of globulins, identified by their position after serum protein electrophoresis. The most significant gamma globulins are immunoglobulins , more commonly known as antibodies, although some Igs are not gamma globulins, and some gamma globulins are not Igs.-Use as medical...
, provided emergency medical help and transportation to the hospital (90 miles away by dirt road to the Sonora state capital, Hermosillo
Hermosillo
Hermosillo is a city and municipality located centrally in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the capital and main economic center for the state and region. It contains almost all of the state's manufacturing and has thirty percent of its population...
) in the years before a government clinic was set up in Haxöl Iihom, helped provide water to the village, and helped the people in numerous other ways. During these years the Seri population began to rebound, increasing from about 215 in 1951 to more than 800 by 2005.
Contributions to the study of Seri language and culture
Edward and Becky learned the Seri language and did the first scientific analysis of its phonologyPhonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
, morphology
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
and grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
. A major collaborator with them on their work at that time was Roberto Herrera Marcos, a Seri man who also resided in Haxöl Iihom. Their earliest publications were Seri reading primers that were published by SIL in cooperation with the Secretaría de Educación Pública
Secretaría de Educación Pública
The Secretaría de Educación Pública is a Mexican federal government authority with Cabinet representation and responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of national educational policy and school standards in Mexico.Additionally, it has the following responsibilities:*Creation...
after developing the first alphabet for the language under the guidelines of that Mexican ministry. Later work produced books of traditional Seri stories.
During their years of residence, the Mosers collected extensive lexical and cultural information, much of which would be published later in various books and articles. Recorded legends and history were published in the Seri language, and some appear in later collections in English and Spanish. A Seri-Spanish vocabulary book was published in 1961, an ethnobotany
Ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the scientific study of the relationships that exist between people and plants....
(with botanist Richard S. Felger) in 1985 (which has been hailed as a modern classic), and a major dictionary in 2005, thirty years after Edward’s death, but based largely on work that he and Roberto Herrera Marcos (a.k.a. Roberto Herrera Thomson) had done. What is known today about Seri history and culture, including the so-called “band” structure of this group, is the result of work that the Mosers and Herrera did. Even work that does not bear either of their names as authors, such as the article in the journal Science about hibernating sea turtles, the book about the San Esteban people, and the 2005 dictionary, as well as most work on the Seri language and culture during the past half century) is part of their legacy.
The Mosers and Herrera also worked on a translation of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
which was also completed in 1982, a few years after Edward’s death.
Edward completed a Master’s degree in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1966. Edward and Becky spent many summers (more than twenty for Edward, more than forty for Becky) at the University of North Dakota
University of North Dakota
The University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...
giving linguistics courses through the Summer Institute of Linguistics program.
Edward’s interest in the well-being of the Seri people and in their rich culture and history was unflagging up until his sudden and unexpected death in 1976. At about that same time, a Mexican government-sponsored building project in Haxöl Iihom laid out the first streets, and the street in front of Mosers’ home was called Calle Eduardo Moser, a name which it still bears today.