Brian Darrel Stubbs (born April 25, 1949) is an American author, composer, columnist, and a leading authority in comparative Uto-Aztecan linguistics. He retired after 45 years of teaching at the College of Eastern Utah/Utah State University (CEU/USU) Extension in Blanding, Utah, Utah, and researching and writing on Native American linguistics. He taught English, English as a Second Language (ESL), comparative linguistics, math, and music at the same institution.
As a linguist, he is perhaps best known as a UAnist – a leading authority in comparative Uto-Aztecan linguistics. His book Uto-Aztecan: A Comparative Vocabulary is the largest in the field, double the size of previous works on comparative Uto-Aztecan studies.
He has also authored non-linguistic books.
| Brian Darrel Stubbs | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 25, 1949 New York, United States |
| Alma mater | University of Utah |
| Spouse(s) | Sylvia Canelo |
| Children | 5 |
Background and education
editStubbs was born in New York State, and attended Provo High School in Provo, Utah in 1967. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and served a full-time mission for the church, speaking Navajo. He married Silvia Canelo (from Argentina) in Utah County, Utah, on March 30, 1971. They have five children.
He earned his Master of Arts in linguistics at the University of Utah, under the tutelage of Uto-Aztecanists including Wick Miller, Ray Freeze, David Iannucci, and Mauricio Mixco. He has a PhD ABD in Near Eastern languages and linguistics, also from the University of Utah, with course work and comprehensive exams in Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and Egyptian.
Academic career
editAs a professional linguist, Semitist, and UAnist, Stubbs studied several language families, but eventually specialized in the Uto-Aztecan language family.
After publishing several articles, four of them in the International Journal of American Linguistics,[1] Brian decided that articles are too haphazard a way of scattering one’s ideas all over in hopes that subsequent scholars would have the patience to gather them together for a cohesive view of one’s thoughts on a matter, so he then published Uto-Aztecan: A Comparative Vocabulary (2011), containing 2,703 cognate sets and extensive discussion on the comparative phonology of the Uto-Aztecan branches and languages.[2] That volume was favorably reviewed, and was welcomed and praised by the other Uto-Aztecan specialists.[3]
He was first a Semitist — studying Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, as well as Egyptian — but then found linguistics fascinating enough for a detour to complete an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Utah, before resuming coursework toward a PhD (ABD) in Semitic languages and linguistics. Nevertheless, his research interests remained in Uto-Aztecan, a language family of some 30 languages in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico (his M.A. focus). Then, 100 years after Edward Sapir (1913, 1915),[4] established Uto-Aztecan as a language family, Stubbs published Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan (2015),[5] demonstrating substantial Semitic and Egyptian components in Uto-Aztecan. In fact, during that intervening century, nine phonological puzzles have evaded solution from Uto-Aztecan specialists; however, the underlying Semitic component explains seven of the nine.[6] While a Native American language family tie to the Ancient Near East was expected to be controversial, no one has substantively refuted it. It was sent to the best 15 Uto-Aztecan specialists, some Semitic scholars, and other linguists: among the 30 recipients, most were silent, a dozen offered positive responses, and two or three said ‘no, can’t be’ but offered no specifics to counter its viability. John Robertson (Harvard PhD)[7] and Dirk Elzinga[8] published positive reviews. Among the more interesting responses was that of David H. Kelley (Harvard PhD who published in anthropology, linguistics, and contributed to deciphering the Mayan glyphs): “The thick thing came in the mail, and I did not want to tackle it, but dutifully opened it, intending to look at a page or two. However, I started to read and ended up reading the whole book. It is the most interesting and significant piece of research I have seen in years.”[9]
Discussion
editThough expected to be controversial, his 2015 Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan[10] establishes the sound correspondences, much fossilized morphology, unusual semantic combinations preserved, and other parallels demonstrating a Semitic and Late Egyptian infusion into ancient Uto-Aztecan. It illuminates how the underlying Semitic and Egyptian forms explain seven of nine phonological puzzles that Uto-Aztecan specialists had not solved since Edward Sapir’s establishing Uto-Aztecan as a viable language family 100 years earlier (Sapir 1913, 1915).[11]
If three to five language families all apparently point to the same infusion or presence, it would be an exponentially stronger case with each one. However, Stubbs is confident that somewhere between 90-99% of the 1500+ linguistic parallels will pass muster in the long run, though some adjustments are always necessary. Even in Sapir's founding UA works, Miller and subsequent UAnists tossed out four or five of his 150-200 sets (2%).. Stubbs brought back in only one or two that appear valid.
Given that the parallels match Late Egyptian, but not Middle Egyptian, and that the Aramaic and Hebrew/ Phoenician are distinct and also fit the range of about 2500-3000 years ago--these depths are only the same or a little more than many branches of Indo-European (IE).
References
edit- ^ Brian D. Stubbs “The Labial Labyrinth in Uto-Aztecan,” International Journal of American Linguistics 61 (1995): 396-422; Stubbs “More Palatable Reconstructions for Uto-Aztecan Palatals,” International Journal of American Linguistics 66 (2000): 125-137; Stubbs, Book Review of A Prehistory of Western North America: The Impact of Uto-Aztecan Languages, by David Leedom Shaul, in International Journal of American Linguistics 81 (2015).
- ^ Stubbs, Uto-Aztecan: A Comparative Vocabulary (Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services and Rocky Mountain Books, 2011).
- ^ Kenneth C. Hill, Review of Uto-Aztecan: A Comparative Vocabulary, by Brian Stubbs, in International Journal of American Linguistics 78/4 (2012): 591-593.
- ^ Sapir, Southern Paiute and Nahuatl: a study in Uto-Aztecan, parts 1 and 2. Part 1, 1913 in Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris 10:379-425. Part 2, 1915 in American Anthropologist 17:98-120, 306-328, reprinted 1919 in JSAP 11: 443-88. Parts 1 and 2 reprinted 1990 in The collected works of Edward Sapir 5: American Indian Languages, William Bright, ed., 351-444 (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter).
- ^ Stubbs, Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan (Provo: Jerry D Grover Publications, 2015). Available online at bmslr.org and academia.edu.
- ^ Stubbs, Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan, 6.1-6.7, pp. 303-319.
- ^ Review by John Robertson, of Brian Stubbs, Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan, in Interpreter 25 (2017):103-116, online at https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/exploring-semitic-and-egyptian-in-uto-aztecan-languages/
- ^ Review by Dirk Elzinga, of Brian Stubbs, Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan, in BYU Studies Quarterly, 55/4 (2016):172-176, available online at https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/exploring-the-explanatory-power-of-semitic-and-egyptian-in-uto-aztecan/ .
- ^ Part of a phone conversation from David H. Kelley to Brian Stubbs in 2004.
- ^ Stubbs, Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan (Provo: Jerry D Grover Publications, 2015), available online at bmslr.org and academia.edu.
- ^ Sapir, Southern Paiute and Nahuatl: a study in Uto-Aztecan, parts 1 and 2. Part 1, 1913 in Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris 10:379-425. Part 2, 1915 in American Anthropologist 17:98-120, 306-328, reprinted 1919 in JSAP 11: 443-88. Parts 1 and 2 reprinted 1990 in The collected works of Edward Sapir 5: American Indian Languages, William Bright, ed., 351-444 (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter).
Bibliography
editStubbs, Brian D., Elements of Hebrew in Uto-Aztecan: A Summary of the Data, Preliminary Report STU-88 (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988).
Stubbs, Brian D., “Book of Mormon Language,” in D. H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), I:179-181, online at https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/node/549 .
Subbs, Brian D., “Hebrew and Uto-Aztecan: Possible Linguistic Connections,” in J. W. Welch, ed., In Reexploring the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT/Salt Lake City: FARMS/Deseret Book, 1992), 279-281, online at https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/node/229 .
Stubbs, Brian D., “The Labial Labyrinth in Uto-Aztecan,” International Journal of American Linguistics, 61/4 (Oct 1995): 396-422, online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/1265830 .
Stubbs, Brian D., “Looking Over vs. Overlooking: Native American Languages: Let's Void the Void,” Semantic Scholar, 1996, online at https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Looking-Over-vs.-Overlooking%3A-Native-American-Let's-Stubbs/1d91ac349c41ce7d25128e70cadbc1c539aa8f3c
Stubbs, Brian D., “Looking Over vs. Overlooking: Native American Languages: Let's Void the Void,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/1 (Spring 1996):1-49, online at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=jbms .
Stubbs, Brian D., “A Lengthier Treatment of Length,” JBMS, 5/2 (1996):82-97, online at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=jbms .
Stubbs, Brian D., “A Short Addition to Length: Some Relative Frequencies of Circumstantial Structures,” JBMS, 6/1 (1997):39-46, online at https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/short-addition-length-some-relative-frequencies-circumstantial-structures .
Stubbs, Brian D. “More Palatable Reconstructions for Uto-Aztecan Palatals,” International Journal of American Linguistics 66/1 (Jan 2000): 125-137, online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/1265962 .
Stubbs, Brian D., and John L. Sorenson, “Was There Hebrew Language in Ancient America? An Interview with Brian Stubbs,” JBMS, 9/2 (July 31, 2000):54-63,83, online at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1258&context=jbms .
Stubbs, Brian D., “Elusive Israel and the Numerical Dynamics of Population Mixing." FARMS Review, 15/2 (2003): 165-182, online at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1554&context=msr .
Stubbs, Brian D., “A Few Hundred Hints of Egyptian and Two Dialects of Hebrew (or Northwest Semitic) in Uto-Aztecan,” 2004 manuscript, 142pp.
Stubbs, Brian D., "What I Know From Experience," Mormon Scholars Testify, January 2011, online at https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/mormon-scholars-testify-brian-d-stubbs-what-i-know-experience .
Stubbs, Brian D., Uto-Aztecan: A Comparative Vocabulary (Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services and Rocky Mountain Books, 2011). Reviewed by Kenneth C. Hill, International Journal of American Linguistics 78/4 (Oct 2012):591-593, online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/667453 .
Stubbs, Brian D., Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan (Provo: Grover Publications, 2015). Reviewed by John Robertson, Interpreter, 25 (2017):103-116, online at https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/exploring-semitic-and-egyptian-in-uto-aztecan-languages/ ; and reviewed by Dirk Elzinga, BYU Studies, 55/4 (2016), online at https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/exploring-explanatory-power-semitic-and-egyptian-uto-aztecan .
Stubbs, Brian D., “Egyptian and Semitic in Uto-Aztecan,” BMAF, January 2015, online at http://bmaf.org/sites/bmaf.org/files/image/Egyptian-Semitic-in-Uto-Aztecan-by-Brian-Stubbs-Jerry-Grover.pdf .
Stubbs, Brian D., Book review of David Leedom Shaul, A Prehistory of Western North America: The Impact of Uto-Aztecan Languages, in International Journal of American Linguistics 81/3 (July 2015):449-451, online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/681581 ..
Stubbs, Brian D., Book review of Kenneth R. Beasley and Dirk Elzinga, An 1860 English- Hopi Vocabulary Written in the Deseret Alphabet (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2015), in BYU Studies, 55/4 (2016), online at https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/1860-english-hopi-vocabulary-written-deseret-alphabet .
Stubbs, Brian D., Changes in Languages: From Nephi to Now (Blanding, UT, 2016).
Stubbs, Brian D., Anecdotes as Antidotes to Wrench Us from Our Ruts (Blanding, Utah: Four Corners Digital Design, n.d.). A collection of short, fun, entertaining newspaper columns.