25.3806, All: Obituary: Gaberell Drachman ( -2014)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-25-3806. Mon Sep 29 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.3806, All: Obituary: Gaberell Drachman ( -2014)

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Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 14:43:23
From: Angela Ralli [ralli at upatras.gr]
Subject: Obituary: Gaberell Drachman ( -2014)

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=25-3806.html&submissionid=35957537&topicid=1&msgnumber=1
 
Dear fellow linguists,

I am in a particularly difficult position to convey a very sad message, since
I have to announce that Emeritus Professor Gaberell Drachman has passed away
on September 10, 2014.

Gaberell Drachman was a distinguished professor of linguistics at the
University of Salzburg who had loved and devoted his entire life to Greek
linguistics and the Greek language, and had substantially contributed to the
advancement of Theoretical Linguistics, producing a significant number of
important publications especially in the areas of syntax and phonology. He had
started his academic life with a Ph.D at the University of Chicago (1969),
developed a brilliant career at the University of Salzburg, published a
significant number of scholar papers and edited a number of books and
journals. He was one of the editors of the Journal of Greek Linguistics
(Brill). 

Gaberell Drachman had been constantly working at the cutting-edge of
theoretical linguistics and his work has inspired many young researchers and
academics. He was a tireless academic who always brought questioning to the
focal point of theoretical discussions covering a diversity of topics. 
For many years, he divided his live between Austria and Greece, and was always
present at the most important Conferences, particularly at those on Greek
Linguistics. He is one of the few people who introduced modern linguistics in
Greece and never ceased to accept proposals for teaching and giving lectures
in both Greece and Cyprus. 

People who have met Gaberell Drachman know that he was flamboyant and
temperamental in his academic lectures, but also during his personal
communication and discussions. He had a youthful enthusiasm about new ideas
and projects, and could catch up with almost every topic in current research. 

Gaberell Drachman was not alone in this pilgrimage. Together with Angeliki
Malikouti-Drachman, they conducted an in-depth and pioneering research on many
thorny issues of Greek morphology and phonology, such as, among others,
stress, slogan chanting and speech rhythm in Greek, allomorphy, assimilation
and dissimilation phenomena. Moreover, they were among the first to stress the
importance of Modern Greek dialects and to turn the focus of research to many
dialectal phenomena. They have done extensive work on Cypriot Greek,
Dodecanesian, and the Northern Greek dialects, always within the framework of
the latest theoretical models such as Distributed Morphology and Optimality
Theory. 

Unfortunately, a short message cannot cover the personality and the work of
Gaberell Drachman. I consider myself as very lucky since I had the chance to
meet Gaberell, first as his student in the Salzburg Summer School, back in
1982, and then as a colleague at several conferences and scientific meetings. 

On behalf of the scientific committee of the 6th Modern Greek Dialects and
Linguistic Theory Conference (http://mgdlt6.upatras.gr/index.php/en/) I had
invited Gaberell Drachman to give a plenary talk. Unfortunately, life runs
faster, so let this meeting be organised in honour of him, as a small tribute
to his substantial contribution to Theoretical Linguistics, Greek Linguistics
and the Modern Greek dialects. 

I hope that this message can express some of our feelings about this
respectful academic but -at the same time- gentle and nice person of an
unbelievable warmth and hospitality.
 


Linguistic Field(s): Not Applicable






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