Braj Kachru
| Braj Kachru | |
|---|---|
| Born | Braj Bihari Kachru 15 May 1932 Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
| Died | 29 July 2016 (aged 84) Urbana, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Linguist, author, journalist, |
| Language | Kashmiri, Hindi, English |
| Ethnicity | Kashmiri Pandit origin |
| Notable works | The Alchemy of English (1986) |
| Notable awards | Duke of Edinburgh Award (1987) |
| Spouse | Yamuna Kachru |
| Children | Amita Kachru Shamit Kachru |
| Website | |
| kachru |
|
Braj Bihari Kachru (15 May 1932 – 29 July 2016) was an Indian linguist. He was Jubilee Professor of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He coined the term "World English" and also published studies on the Kashmiri language.
Braj Bihari Kachru was born on 15 May 1932 in Srinagar, Kashmir into a Kashmiri Pandit family. His father, Pandit Damodar Das Kachru was an educator. His mother, Sati, died when he was five years old. Braj's father was also known as Lala Sahab and was a friend of Kashmiri poet and writer Zinda Kaul masterji. Lala Sahab and his educator and teacher colleagues had discussions on politics, literature and philosophy at his house. During their visits, Braj had the opportunity to interact with masterji and his father's other teacher colleagues.
His wife is fellow linguist Yamuna Kachru. Their son, Shamit Kachru, is a string theorist and professor at Stanford University.
He died on 29 July 2016.
Kachru initiated, shaped and defined the field of World Englishes. He researched in the fields of World Englishes and Kashmiri language and published several books and research papers related to the field.
At the University of Illinois, Braj headed the Department of Linguistics (1968–79), directed the Division of English as an International Language (1985–91), and was director of the Center for Advanced Study (June 1996 – January 2000). At the Linguistic Institute of the Linguistic Society of America, he was appointed director in 1978. He was president of American Association of Applied Linguistics (1984). He was named Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Illinois in 1992. In 1998, he became the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Visiting Professor at Hong Kong University. He went on to become the president of the International Association for World Englishes (1997–99), and eventually the Honorary Fellow of the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, (now English and Foreign Languages University) in Hyderabad, India, in 2001.
...
Wikipedia