Alan R. King
Alan Roy King (24 October 1954 – 19 February 2019) was a British linguist notable for his work on minority languages Basque and Nawat. He was an independent scholar engaged in grammatical description, language recovery, teaching material development and translation projects for Basque, Nawat (Pipil, Central America) and Lencan (Central America). King was Member of the Grammar Committee of the Royal Academy of the Basque Language (Euskaltzaindia) since 1985 and Corresponding member since 2003.
Alan R. King | |
|---|---|
King in London, October 2009 | |
| Born | 24 October 1954 St. Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 19 February 2019 (aged 64) Zarautz, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain |
| Resting place | Donosti |
| Nationality | British |
| Children | One daughter |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Lawrence House Prep School |
| Alma mater | Queen Mary, University of London |
| Thesis | Communicative Grammar of the Basque Verb (Selected Aspects) (1993) |
| Academic work | |
| Main interests | Basque, Nawat, Lenca |
| Website | web |
King's parents were born in London and his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He grew up in England until he was thirteen, then in California, and then back in Europe. When he was twenty-five, he moved to the Basque Country, and since then he lived there, in Gipuzkoa, although he spent some time abroad, such as in England, Catalonia, Wales and El Salvador (Central America). His mother and brother live in Hawaii and he also spent time there. Languages were his main hobby. His areas of interest were linguistics (the study of how they “work”), grammar (how to describe them) and applied linguistics (how to teach languages).
King spoke and communicated in English, Welsh, French, Basque, Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Nawat, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Yiddish and Lenca.