William Bright
| William Bright | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 13, 1928 Oxnard, California |
| Died | October 15, 2006 (aged 78) Louisville, Colorado |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Linguistics, Anthropology, Native American Studies, South Asian studies |
| Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles, University of Colorado, Boulder |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D., 1955) |
| Known for | Study of linguistics, California Indian languages. |
William Bright (August 13, 1928 Oxnard, California – October 15, 2006 Louisville, Colorado) was an American linguist who specialized in Native American and South Asian languages and descriptive linguistics.
Bright earned a bachelor's degree in linguistics in 1949 and a doctorate in the same field in 1955, both from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a professor of linguistics and anthropology at UCLA from 1959 to 1988. He then moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he remained on the faculty until his death.
Bright was an authority on the native languages and cultures of California, and was especially known for his work on Karuk, a Native American language from northwestern California. His study of the language was the first carried out under the auspices of the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages. He was made an honorary member of the Karuk tribe—the first outsider to be so honored—in recognition of his efforts to document and preserve their language which led to its revival. Bright was also known for his research on the Native American languages Nahuatl, Kaqchikel, Luiseño, Ute, Wishram, and Yurok, and the South Asian languages Lushai, Kannada, Tamil, and Tulu. Of particular note are his toponymic contributions to knowledge about place names and their linguistic importance for tribes and California bands.
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