Remembering Professor Arthur Abramson

Arthur AbramsonIt is with great sadness that I share news of the passing of Dr. Arthur Abramson, Professor emeritus of Linguistics, this past weekend.

Arthur had been an active and distinguished member of our Judaic Studies community. He served on the Center’s Executive Board for many years and co-chaired, together with Elliot Wolk (z”l), the Academic Advisory Board and the Citizens Advisory Board. Until recently, Arthur was an active member of the Yiddish Tish. His sense of humor and linguistic-etymological tangents are legendary. According to Arnie Dashefsky, the founding director emeritus of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, Arthur contributed significantly to establishing Judaic Studies at UConn in the 1970s.

A Professor in the Linguistics Department, Arthur was a profoundly influential experimental phonetician. Arthur co-founded UConn’s Department of Linguistics in 1967 and served as department head from 1967 to 1974. He served as President of the Linguistics Society of America in 1983 and was a member of the inaugural class of LSA Fellows in 2006. Arthur’s research on Southeast Asian languages, particularly Thai, was influential, and his work with Leigh Lisker on voice onset time is considered one of the true classics of the field.

There will be a graveside service on Thursday, December 21 at 1pm at Beth Sholom Cemetery, Autumn Street, Manchester, CT.

May his memory be a blessing.

Sebastian