Paul John Hopper

Background

Hopper, Paul John was born on October 23, 1939 in Croydon, Surrey, United Kingdom. Son of Robert Christopher Hatton and Winifred Elizabeth (Goldsmith) Hopper.

Education

1 son, Justin Paul. Bachelor of Arts with honors, University Reading, 1962. Master of Arts, Washington University, Saint Louis, 1964. Doctor of Philosophy, University Texas-Austin, 1967.

Career

In 1973, he proposed the glottalic theory regarding the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European consonant inventory, in parallel with the Georgian linguist Tamaz Gamkrelidze and the Russian linguist Vyacheslav Ivanov. He later also became known for his theory of emergent grammar (Hopper 1987), for his contributions to the theory of grammaticalisation and other work dealing with the interface between grammar and usage. He currently works as the Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, United States of America.

Achievements

• Paul John Hopper has been listed as a noteworthy linguistics educator, researcher by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

Member Linguistic Society of America, Society for Linguistic Anthropology, Mod. Languages Association, American Anthropology Association, International Society for History Linguistics (executive committee 1980-1987).

Interests

• Water color painting.

Connections

Married Helen Marlys, March 12, 1971.

Father:

Robert Christopher Hatton Hopper

Mother:

Winifred Elizabeth (Goldsmith) Hopper

Spouse:

Helen Marlys