21.118, All: Obituary: Charles Ruhl

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LINGUIST List: Vol-21-118. Sat Jan 09 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.118, All: Obituary: Charles Ruhl

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1)
Date: 07-Jan-2010
From: Joanne Scheibman < jscheibm at odu.edu >
Subject: Obituary: Charles Ruhl
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:30:07
From: Joanne Scheibman [jscheibm at odu.edu]
Subject: Obituary: Charles Ruhl

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Charles Edward Ruhl, Professor Emeritus at Old Dominion University, died on December 
25, 2009 after a long illness. He received his B.A. in philosophy from Gettysburg College in 
1960, his M.A. in English from Purdue University in 1965, and his Ph.D. in linguistics 
from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1972. He subsequently taught 
linguistics at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central. 
>From 1974 until his retirement in 1999, he taught at Old Dominion University, where he 
served as both Graduate Program Director and Department Chair of English. He was 
awarded an Academic Council of Learned Societies fellowship for the 1981-82 academic 
year for his work on monosemy. He argued that before assuming the polysemy of words 
with apparent multiple meanings (such as _break_ or _take_), researchers should first 
examine extensive data that might reveal a single abstract meaning. In addition to numerous 
articles on semantics and pragmatics, he published his book, _On Monosemy_, in 1989 with 
SUNY Press. Charlie was active in SECOL (Southeast Conference of Linguistics) and was 
president of that organization in 1981-82, and subsequently a lifelong member. He was also 
a member of the Linguistic Society of America, the Modern Language Association, the 
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, and the Linguistic Association of Canada the 
United States. He remained professionally active even after his retirement. In addition to his 
academic credentials, Charlie was a dedicated creative writer; he produced several small 
volumes of verse and a number of other works, including a semi-autobiographical novel. 
And because he was an inveterate tinkerer, never quite satisfied, he left several manuscripts 
behind, both creative and academic. Charlie was also a great appreciator of others' work, 
and he mentored and gave encouragement to many colleagues over the years. In addition to 
linguistics, poetry and fiction, his passions were for the Giants (both teams) and the 
University of North Carolina's men's basketball team. Charlie was a kind, modest, and 
gentle man. He will be missed. 


Linguistic Field(s): Not Applicable




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