13 Facts About Calvert Watkins

Calvert Watkins was an American linguist and philologist, known for his book How to Kill a Dragon.

Calvert Watkins was a professor of linguistics and the classics at Harvard University and after retirement went to serve as professor-in-residence at UCLA.

Calvert Watkins was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 13,1933, to Ralph James Watkins, an economist and government advisor, and Willye Ward, a Spanish teacher who translated the personal memoirs of former Mexican president Gen.

In 1959, Calvert Watkins was initially appointed the position of instructor at Harvard University.

Calvert Watkins later became assistant professor in 1960, associate professor with tenure in 1962, and full professor in 1966.

In 1989 Calvert Watkins was appointed to the position of Victor.

Calvert Watkins remained dedicated to the research and development of historical linguistics throughout his entire academic and professional career.

Calvert Watkins continued to promote the importance of historical linguistics at UCLA by remaining active in the annual UCLA Indo-European Conference.

The "law" as it relates to Proto-Celtic was already observed in 1909 by Rudolf Thurneysen on page 422 of his Grammar of Old Irish, but it was Calvert Watkins who noticed that the same pattern occurred in the histories of other languages.

Calvert Watkins pointed out that of all the Celtic languages, Old Irish is the closest match to the theorized Proto-Indo European mother tongue and that Old Irish represents an extraordinary ancient language whose structure can only be compared with that of Vedic Sanskrit.

Calvert Watkins further opined that through the ceremonious delivery from the poet, the word choices became preserved as historical evidence of the language in question.

Calvert Watkins died in his sleep at the age of 80 in Los Angeles, California, on March 20,2013.

Calvert Watkins was the Distinguished Professor in Residence of the Department of Classics and the Program in Indo-European Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he had moved in 2003 after retiring from Harvard University as Victor S Thomas Professor of Linguistics and the Classics.