R. H. Robins

Robert H. Robins (1 July 1921 – 20 April 2000), affectionately known to his close ones as Bobby Robins, was a British linguist. Before his retirement, he spent his entire career at the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.

Robin's work in linguistics covered several diverse areas, including Firthian prosodic analysis, endangered languages and the history of linguistic thought. He wrote two popular textbooks, General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey (1964) and A Short History of Linguistics (1967).

Robins was born in Broadstairs, Kent on 1 July 1921. His father was a medical practitioner.

In his childhood, Robins studied French, Latin and ancient Greek. He won a scholarship to Tonbridge School in 1935 and a scholarship for Classics to New College, Oxford, in 1940. He completed his university studies in 1948 with first class honours in Literae Humaniores (both Mods and Greats). During the second world war, a stint where he taught Japanese to Royal Air Force servicemen attracted him to the field of linguistics. Robins later obtained a DLit degree from London University in 1968.

Robins served in the RAF Intelligence from 1942 to 1945 as language instructor. After completing his university studies Robins was appointed to a Lectureship (1948-1955) in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics in the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University. John Rupert Firth was the Head of Department at the time and was a major influence on Robins. Under Firth's directions, Robins carried out field work in the early 1950s on the now-extinct Yurok language of northern California and also did work on ancient linguistics. Robins later became Reader in General Linguistics (1955-1965), Professor of General Linguistics (1966-1986) and ultimately Head of Department (1970-1985) at the same institution. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts (1984-86) of London University. He was elected to fellowship of the British Academy in 1986.

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