LINGUIST List 20.1954
Fri May 22 2009
All: Obituary: Dr. David Watters
Editor for this issue: Catherine Adams
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1. Carol
Genetti,
Obituary: Dr. David Watters
Message 1: Obituary: Dr. David Watters
Date: 21-May-2009
From: Carol Genetti <cgenettilinguistics.ucsb.edu>
Subject: Obituary: Dr. David Watters
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It is with deep sadness that I inform readers of LINGUIST List of the deathof Dr. David Watters, one of the top scholars in Tibeto-Burman linguisticsin Nepal.
David and his wife, Nancy, first went to Nepal in the early 1970’s, wherethey raised their children among the Kham community. David completed hisPh.D. in Linguistics at the University of Oregon in 1998. His dissertationwas an extensive study of Kham, a previously undescribed Tibeto-Burmanlanguage, including a detailed comparison of the verbal morphology ofseveral Kham dialects, and an analysis of the implications of this data forthe reconstruction of Proto-Tibeto-Burman. The revised grammar waspublished by Cambridge University Press in 2002. He was also the author ofNotes on Kusunda: A language isolate of Nepal, published in HimalayanLinguistics in 2006, as well as many articles in journals and editedcollections. In addition to his own careful and admirable scholarship,David dedicated his life to furthering linguistics in Nepal. For many yearshe taught in the Department of Linguistics at Tribhuvan University, wherehe was a valuable mentor to scores of Nepalese students from a diversearray of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. His contribution toTibeto-Burman languages will undoubtedly live on in the work of thesestudents for decades to come. David passed away on May 18th as a result ofcomplications following surgery for cancer. A deeply committed Christian,he viewed death as a passage to everlasting joy. David was a wonderfulfriend, a treasured father, and a fine colleague. He will be greatly missed.
Carol Genetti
Linguistic Field(s):
Not Applicable
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