In today's world, Robert Blust remains a topic of great importance and interest to a wide public. Whether it is the life of Robert Blust, a historical event related to Robert Blust, or simply exploring the various facets of Robert Blust, it is evident that this topic continues to spark curiosity and generate debate. From its impact on society to its influence on culture and politics, Robert Blust remains a relevant topic that deserves to be explored in depth. In this article, we will delve into the various dimensions of Robert Blust and analyze its meaning and relevance today.
Blust was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 9, 1940, and raised in California. He received both a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology in 1967 and a PhD in linguistics in 1974 from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He taught at Leiden University in The Netherlands from 1976 to 1984, after which he returned to the Department of Linguistics at Mānoa for the rest of his career, serving as department chair from 2005 to 2008. He was a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America.
Austronesian languages
Until 2018, he served as the review editor for Oceanic Linguistics, an academic journal that covers the Austronesian languages. Blust is best known for his work on this large language family, including the comprehensive Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (1995) and a Thao-English dictionary (2003). Another one of his well-known works is a 2009 work called The Austronesian Languages, which is the first single-authored book to cover all aspects (phonology, syntax, morphology, sound changes, classification, etc.) of the Austronesian language family in its entirety.
Field work
As part of his field work, Blust studied 97 Austronesian languages spoken in locations such as Sarawak, Papua New Guinea, and Taiwan. In Taiwan, he performed field work on Formosan languages such as Thao, Kavalan, Pazeh, Amis, Paiwan and Saisiyat. His dictionary of the highly endangered Thao language, at over 1100 pages, is one of the most complete ever compiled for a Formosan language. Blust also had an abiding research interest in both linguistic and cultural aspects of rainbows and dragons.
Personal life and death
Blust died in Honolulu, Hawaii, on January 5, 2022, at the age of 81, after a 13-year battle with cancer.
Blust, Robert (1974). The Proto-North-Sarawak vowel deletion hypothesis (PhD). University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Blust, Robert (1977). "The Proto-Austronesian pronouns and Austronesian subgrouping: a preliminary report". University of Hawaiʻi Working Papers in Linguistics. 9 (2): 1–15.
Blust, Robert (1995). "The position of the Formosan languages: method and theory in Austronesian comparative linguistics". In Li, Paul Jen-kuei; Tsang, Cheng-hwa; Huang, Ying-kuei; Ho, Dah-an; Tseng, Chiu-yu (eds.). Austronesian Studies Relating to Taiwan. Symposium Series of the Institute of History and Philology. Vol. 3. Taipei: Academia Sinica. pp. 585–650.
Blust, Robert (December 1996). "Some Remarks on the Linguistic Position of Thao". Oceanic Linguistics. 35 (2). University of Hawaiʻi Press: 272–294. doi:10.2307/3623175. JSTOR3623175.
Blust, Robert (1999). "Notes on Pazeh Phonology and Morphology". Oceanic Linguistics. 38 (2). University of Hawaiʻi Press: 321–365. doi:10.2307/3623296. JSTOR3623296.
Blust, Robert (2003). "Three Notes on Early Austronesian Morphology". Oceanic Linguistics. 42 (2). University of Hawaiʻi Press: 438–478. doi:10.2307/3623246. JSTOR3623246.
Blust, Robert (2003). A short morphology, phonology and vocabulary of Kiput, Sarawak. Shorter Grammars. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-546. hdl:1885/146714. ISBN0858835363.
Blust, Robert A. (2005). "Must sound change be linguistically motivated?". Diachronica. 22 (2). John Benjamins: 219–269. doi:10.1075/dia.22.2.02blu. ISSN1569-9714.
Blust, Robert (2006). "The Origin of the Kelabit Voiced Aspirates: A Historical Hypothesis Revisited". Oceanic Linguistics. 45 (2). University of Hawaiʻi Press: 311–338. doi:10.1353/ol.2007.0001. JSTOR4499967. S2CID145261116.
^ abLobel, Jason William, Victoria Chen and Lani Blust-Char (2022). "In Memoriam: Robert A. Blust, 1940–2022". Oceanic Linguistics. 61 (2): 614–649. doi:10.1353/ol.2022.0010. S2CID250269537.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Editorial". Language & Linguistics in Melanesia. 40. Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea. January 7, 2022. ISSN0023-1959.
^ abAdelaar, Alexander; Pawley, Andrew, eds. (2009). "Reflections on Bob Blust's career". Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift for Robert Blust. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. p. 3. doi:10.15144/PL-601 (inactive January 31, 2024). hdl:1885/34582. ISBN9780858836013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
^"About". Robert Blust. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
Zeitoun, Elizabeth (2007). "Three Western scholars' contributions to Formosan linguistics"(PDF). The International Conference for the 100th anniversary of linguistics in Taiwan: In honor of the linguistics pioneer Professor Naoyosi Ogawa. National Taichung University of Education. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 24, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
"Robert A. Blust". University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Linguistics Department. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
Townsend, Bethany. "Robert Blust". Linguist of the Day. LinguistList. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013.