32.1740, All: The Iranian Linguistics Community Lost a Legend

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-1740. Tue May 18 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.1740, All: The Iranian Linguistics Community Lost a Legend

Moderator: Malgorzata E. Cavar (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Student Moderator: Jeremy Coburn, Lauren Perkins
Managing Editor: Becca Morris
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Everett Green, Sarah Robinson, Nils Hjortnaes, Joshua Sims, Billy Dickson
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Everett Green <everett at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: Tue, 18 May 2021 23:39:41
From: Simin Karimi [karimi at email.arizona.edu]
Subject: The Iranian Linguistics Community Lost a Legend

 
The Iranian linguistics community lost a legend this week:  Professor Mohammad
Reza Bateni, the father of modern linguistics in Iran.  He was the first to
introduce his students and the linguistics communities in Iran to structural
linguistics and then to generative linguistics through his teachings at the
University of Tehran and his numerous books and articles.  Many of his
students are now training younger linguists in Iran and around the world.  

Professor Bateni was born on December 30, 1934 in Isfehan-Iran, and passed
away on May 11, 2021 in Tehran-Iran.  He received his BA in English from
Daneshsara-ye Aali (Institute of Higher Education) in Tehran and his MA in
linguistics from University of Leeds in England.  He also spent two years
conducting research at University College London. Upon his return to Iran, he
obtained his PhD in linguistics from the University of Tehran.  He was later
hired as a professor at the University of Tehran where he trained numerous
linguists till he was forced into retirement in 1981 after the Islamic
revolution imposed its ‘cultural revolution’ on the Iranian academia.
Professor Bateni also spent time as a researcher in the Linguistics
Departments at MIT and University of California, Berkeley.  He has published a
large number of books and articles introducing structural and generative
linguistics, and discussing various syntactic, morphological and semantic
aspects of the Persian language.  Some of his books have been republished up
to 22 times.  

During the last decades of his professional life, Professor Bateni devoted his
work to creating some of the best dictionaries related to Persian, including
one on complex predicates in this language.  His innovative style in writing
dictionaries is testimony to his vast linguistic knowledge and his deep
understanding of the Persian language.  

Professor Bateni strongly opposed the dictatorship during the era of the last
Shah of Iran, and even more so during the highly oppressive and corrupt
Islamic regime which has ruled Iran for the past 42 years.  He was never
reluctant to express his opposition against both dictatorships and faced the
consequences.  He refused to receive awards for his publications offered to
him by the Islamic regime.  

On a personal level, he was my advisor and mentor at the University of Tehran
when I was an MA student of linguistics.  He was one of the most caring,
dedicated, effective and knowledgeable teachers I had in my own education in
three different continents.  I established a valuable friendship with him and
his family which I have cherished during the last several decades.  

Professor Bateni’s passing has left a huge vacuum in the Iranian linguistics
community.  However, his influence on our field will continue through his
numerous publications.  Many of the linguists he trained will continue his
path and legacy around the globe. He will also be remembered for his brave and
steadfast opposition to dictatorship, injustice and violations of Human
Rights.  May he rest in peace.

Simin Karimi

 


Linguistic Field(s): Discipline of Linguistics

Subject Language(s): Persian, Iranian (pes)



------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***************************    LINGUIST List Support    ***************************
 The 2020 Fund Drive is under way! Please visit https://funddrive.linguistlist.org
  to find out how to donate and check how your university, country or discipline
     ranks in the fund drive challenges. Or go directly to the donation site:
                   https://crowdfunding.iu.edu/the-linguist-list

                        Let's make this a short fund drive!
                Please feel free to share the link to our campaign:
                    https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/
 


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-32-1740	
----------------------------------------------------------