James Wells Gair (December 27, 1927 – December 10, 2016) was an American linguist who specialized in the languages of South Asia. He is best known for his work on Sinhala, much of which was done in collaboration with W. S. Karunatillake. Other languages on which he worked include Pali, Tamil, and Dhivehi.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
James W. Gair | |
|---|---|
 Gair and W. S. Karunatillake working by lamplight at Karunatillake's home in Kelaniya, c. 1984/5 | |
| Born | James Wells Gair December 27, 1927 |
| Died | December 10, 2016 (aged 88) Ithaca, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Academic background | |
| Education |
|
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Linguist |
| Institutions | Cornell University |
| Main interests | Languages of South Asia |
Works
editOn Sinhala
edit- Gair, James W. (1968). "Sinhalese Diglossia". Anthropological Linguistics. 10 (8): 1–15. JSTOR 30029181.
- Gair, James W. (1970). Colloquial Sinhalese Clause Structures. The Hague: Mouton.
- Fairbanks, Gordon H.; Gair, James W.; De Silva, M. W. S. (1968). Colloquial Sinhalese. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University.
- Gair, James W.; Karunatillake, W. S. (1974). Literary Sinhala. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University.
- Gair, James W.; Karunatillake, W. S. (1976). Literary Sinhala Inflected Forms: A Synopsis with a Transliteration Guide to Sinhala Script. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University.
- Gair, James W.; Karunatillake, W. S. (1976). Samples of Contemporary Sinhala Prose with Glossary and Brief Grammatical Notes. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University.
- Gair, James W. (1985). "How Dravidianized Was Sinhala Phonology?: Some Conclusions and Cautions". In Acson, Veneeta Z.; Leed, Richard L. (eds.). Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 20: For Gordon H. Fairbanks. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 37–55. JSTOR 20006708.
- Gair, James W.; Paolillo, John C. (1997). Sinhala. Munich: Lincom Europa.
On Pali
edit- Gair, James W.; Karunatillake, W. S. (1998). A New Course in Reading Pāli: Entering the Word of the Buddha (PDF). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
References
edit- ^ "James Wells Gair (1927–2016)". The Ithaca Journal. December 24, 2016. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021 – via Legacy.com.
- ^ "James W. Gair, linguistics professor emeritus, dies at 88". Cornell Chronicle. January 17, 2017. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017.
- ^ "James W. Gair (1927–2016)". Cornell University. Archived from the original on January 5, 2017.
- ^ Whitman, John. "James W. Gair (December 27, 1927 – December 10, 2016)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2021.
- ^ "In Memoriam: James W. Gair, 1929-2016". Linguistic Society of America. December 14, 2016. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021.
- ^ "James Gair and W.S. Karunatillake — Photos Illustrating Decades of Collaboration Promoting the Study of Sinhala". American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies. Archived from the original on February 19, 2015.
- ^ "James Gair (Cornell University)". Archived from the original on March 17, 2005.
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