Louis Gauchat (born 12 January 1866 in Les Brenets, Switzerland; died 22 August 1942 in Lenzerheide) was a Swiss linguist.

Louis Gauchat
Photograph of Gauchat
Born12 January 1866
Las Brenets, Switzerland
Died22 August 1942
Lenzerheide
NationalitySwiss
EducationUniversity of Zürich
OccupationLinguist

Career

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He studied at the University of Zürich under Heinrich Morf and in Paris as a pupil of Gaston Paris, receiving his doctorate in 1890 with the dissertation Le patois de Dompierre. He later worked as a lecturer at Bern (1893–96) and Zürich (1897–1902). In 1902 was named a professor of Romance philology at the University of Bern. In 1907 he succeeded Jakob Ulrich at the University of Zürich, where he taught classes until 1931.[1] In 1909, with Albert Bachmann, he founded the phonogram archives at the university.[2] In 1926–28 he served as academic rector.[1]

Gauchat studied the French language spoken in Switzerland. In 1899 he founded Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande (Glossary of dialects of French-speaking Switzerland), an institution to publish studies of Switzerland's French dialects. The institute receives subsidies from French-speaking cantons and the Swiss Confederation. Jules Jeanjaquet and Ernest Tappolet assisted in phonetic survey work. The first issue of the glossary was published in 1924.[3][4][5]

Published works

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His 1905 article on the vernacular of the Swiss village of Charmey is considered a precursor in the field of sociolinguistics.[1][6]

  • Le patois de Dompierre, Halle sur Saale: E. Karras, impr., 1891 (dissertation thesis).
  • Etude sur le ranz des vaches fribourgeois, Zürich: Zürcher und Furrer, 1899.
  • L’unité phonétique dans le patois d’une commune, in: Aus romanischen Sprachen und Literaturen. Festschrift Heinrich Morf, Halle and d. Saale 1905, Nachdruck Genève 1980, S. 175–232.
  • Grammaire et lexicographie des patois de la Suisse romande: Bibliographie analytique, Neuchâtel 1916
  • Les noms de lieux et de personnes de la Suisse romande: Bibliographie analytique, Neuchâtel 1919
  • Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande fondé par Louis Gauchat, Jules Jeanjaquet, Ernst Tappolet, Neuchâtel 1924 ff.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Gauchat, Louis Historischen Lexikon der Schweiz
  2. ^ The Phonetics Lab and The Phonogram Archives at Zurich University, Switzerland Zurich Open Repository and Archive
  3. ^ Margot, Nicole (29 December 2007). "Louis Gauchat et le Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande" (in French). Retrieved 2012-12-17.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Historique" (in French). Glossaire des Patois de la Suisse Romande. 2012-10-19. Archived from the original on 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
  5. ^ Kristol, Andres (29 June 2007). "Louis Gauchat". Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (in French). Retrieved 2012-12-17.
  6. ^ Human Communication: Theoretical Explorations edited by Albert Silverstein