Nationality United States Children Susie Bright Spouse Lise Menn (m. 1986–2006) | Role Linguist Name William Bright | |
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Born August 13, 1928
Oxnard, California ( 1928-08-13 ) 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. Died October 15, 2006, Louisville, Colorado, United States Education University of California, Berkeley (1955) Books Native American Placena, A coyote reader, 1500 California place na, Colorado place names, Native American Placena Similar People Mary Haas, Susie Bright, Edward Sapir, Murray Barnson Emeneau, Lise Menn | ||
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.
Bright was editor of Language, the journal of the Linguistic Society of America, from 1966 to 1988 and of Language in Society from 1993 to 1999. He was the founding editor of Written Language and Literacy, which he edited from 1997 until 2003. He served as president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1989.
He was the father of author Susie Bright. In his later life, he was married to Lise Menn. He died of a brain tumor.