30.846, All: Obituary: Béla Korponay (1928-2019)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-30-846. Fri Feb 22 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.846, All: Obituary: Béla Korponay (1928-2019)

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Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:31:40
From: György Rákosi [rakosi.gyorgy at arts.unideb.hu]
Subject: Obituary: Béla Korponay (1928-2019)

 
Béla Korponay, Emeritus Professor of the University of Debrecen and founder of
its Department of English Linguistics, passed away on 26 January, 2019, at the
age of 91. 

Béla’s career as a lecturer and scholar was characterized by his ardent
dedication to modern linguistics, in particular English and Hungarian grammar.
A central issue in his research was the study of Case Grammar. A meeting with
Charles Fillmore and John M. Anderson in the late 1960s sparked off his
life-long passion for this framework, and, in view of the rich Hungarian case
system, Béla’s fascination with Case Grammar certainly was no coincidence. He
introduced this model to Hungarian linguistics circles, remaining a central
figure in the ensuing research activities. In a later phase of his career, he
also extended the scope of his inquiries to include state-of-the-art cognitive
semantics. A number of articles and two books were devoted to the
semantic-syntactic interplay in English and Hungarian: A Semantico-Syntax of
the English Language published in 1988 and A Hungarian-English Case Grammar
published in 2001. Béla was an outstanding teacher with an open-minded
personality that destined him to become a key instigator in an important
research domain. He invited many internally renowned scholars to Debrecen, and
made the University of Debrecen a center of linguistic studies. He was able to
inspire his students and colleagues alike with his ideas, and many of his
former students have become faculty members and professors in the Hungarian
academic arena. Béla will be remembered for his broad range of interests, for
his warmth and for his refreshing sense of humor. Béla Korponay will be
greatly missed by his dear wife, Ildikó, his family, and by his many friends,
colleagues and students. 

Services are on Tuesday 19 February, at 12 a.m. at the Public Cemetery of
Debrecen.
 


Linguistic Field(s): Not Applicable



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