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  Peter Roach

F R Palmer

5/11/2019

3 Comments

 
This is not really about phonetics, for a change. I have just been doing a bit of editing of the article on F R Palmer, for the sad reason that he died recently at the age of 97. Frank Palmer was a remarkable scholar, and was the founding father of the Linguistic Science Department at the University of Reading. I owe him a great debt of gratitude, as he gave me my first job as a Lecturer in Phonetics in 1968. He even went further and acted as my PhD supervisor! The department was an amazing place to work in the 1960's and 70's; Frank and his colleagues had built up a formidable international reputation, and many famous linguists visited the department.  
When I looked up the Wikipedia article on him to check if anyone had noted Frank's death, I discovered that the article was badly written, factually inaccurate in places and generally inadequate as a portrayal of a great scholar. I have corrected the worst of the faults, but I hope that someone better qualified than me to summarize his career will step in and write something better.

UPDATE :  Although I amended the Wikipedia article to include Frank Palmer's death, that edit has been deleted by a Wikipedia editor. Apparently it's necessary to quote a published source if you add information of this sort.
3 Comments
Photini Coutsougera
2/12/2019 02:30:44 am

Dear Peter, I am sad to hear about Frank Palmer's passing... He had taught me semantics during the first term of my MA in Reading. If I remember correctly, he had come back from his retirement just for that term. So, I was incredibly fortunate...

Reply
Peter
11/12/2019 08:20:49 pm

Hello Photini, it's good to hear from you, even though it's for a sad reason. I hope you're well and enjoying life.

Reply
Photini
17/4/2020 07:46:33 pm

Dear Peter, Lovely to find you here! Hope you're safe and well.

Reply



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    A blog that discusses problems in Wikipedia's coverage of Phonetics

    Peter Roach

    Emeritus Professor of Phonetics,
    ​University of Reading, UK

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