Robert S. P. Beekes

Robert S. P. Beekes
Born
Robert Stephen Paul Beekes

(1937-09-02)2 September 1937
Haarlem, Netherlands
Died21 September 2017(2017-09-21) (aged 80)
Oegstgeest, Netherlands
EducationLeiden University (Ph.D., 1969)
Known forContributions to Indo-European studies
Reconstructing Pre-Greek phonology
Indo-European Etymological Dictionary
Etymological Dictionary of Greek
Scientific career
FieldsIndo-European linguistics
WorkplacesLeiden University
F. B. J. Kuiper

Robert Stephen Paul Beekes (Dutch: [ˈbeːkəs]; 2 September 1937 – 21 September 2017)[full citation needed] was a Dutch linguist who was emeritus professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at Leiden University and an author of many monographs on the Proto-Indo-European language.

Scholarly work

One of his most well-known books is Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, a standard handbook on Proto-Indo-European that treats the area of linguistic reconstruction thoroughly but also features cultural reconstruction and comparative linguistic methods in general.

Beekes was also a co-author, with L. Bouke van der Meer, of De Etrusken spreken (1991). He advocated the Asia Minor theory to explain the Etruscans' origin. In 1993, he was elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He also did work on Pre-Greek, the (non-Indo-European) language that was spoken in Greece before Greek, possibly around 2000 BC. Since this language was not written, Beekes obtained his information from many words in Classical Greek that show a non-Greek structure and development. Beekes authored the Etymological Dictionary of Greek for the Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary series. His work drew praise, with the philologist Oliver Simkin stating, "Brill's claim that it 'should be on every classicist's desk' is fully justified." Simkin does, however, criticize Beekes for his proclivity towards Pre-Greek etymologies, many of which are described by Simkin as "contentious." Another linguist, Miles Beckwith, commended the work for supposedly containing "a wealth of information on the historical development of Greek," though he still considered the predilection for Pre-Greek etymologies to be a "pervasive issue."

Selected works

Monographs

Edited volumes

Articles

References

  1. ↑ NRC Handelsblad, 23 September 2017.
  2. ↑ "The Origin of the Etruscans" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "R.S.P. Beekes". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Etymological Dictionary of Greek – Pre-Greek Loanwords in Greek Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Simkin, Oliver (2011). "Greek Etymology". The Classical Review. 61 (1): 1–3. ISSN 0009-840X.
  6. ↑ Beckwith, Miles (2012). "Review of Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series". The Classical World. 105 (4): 558–560. ISSN 0009-8418.

Further reading