Gerhard Doerfer | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1920-03-08)March 8, 1920 |
| Died | December 27, 2003(2003-12-27) (aged 83) |
| Spouse | Ingeborg Blüthner |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Free University of Berlin |
| Thesis | Zur Syntax der Geheime Geschichte der Mongolen (1954) |
Gerhard Doerfer (8 March 1920 – 27 December 2003) was a GermanTurkologist, Altaicist, and philologist best known for his studies of theTurkic languages, especiallyKhalaj.
Doerfer was born on March 8, 1920, inKönigsberg (present-dayKaliningrad) to postal official Franz Doerfer and Adina Doerfer (née Bruchmann). In 1928 his family relocated toBerlin.[1]
Doerfer was forced to leave school in 1938 due to his opposition to the prevailing ideology. Following a period of unemployment he was conscripted into military service, where he served from 1938 to 1945. During this time he studied languages, includingSamoan. Doerfer was captured as a prisoner of war, and eventually returned to Berlin in 1946.[2]
After release from captivity inWorld War II, Doerfer studied off and on in Berlin, first atHumboldt University of Berlin, and later at theFree University of Berlin. He took courses in Turkic andAltaic languages under the guidance ofKarl Heinrich Menges, as well as Islamic and Iranian Studies. He received his PhD on July 29, 1954, with the thesisZur Syntax der Geheimen Geschichte der Mongolen (On the Syntax ofthe Secret History of the Mongols).
From 1955 to 1957 Doerfer was an assistant professor inMainz University, where he performed editorial work onPhilologiae turcicae fundamenta, a multivolume work on Turkic languages and philology. From 1957 to 1960 he worked on a post-doctoral thesis,Türkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen (Turkic and Mongolic elements in Modern Persian), while also lecturing at theUniversity of Göttingen. After the completion of this thesis he was qualified in the field of Turcology. This eventually expanded to Turkic and Altaic studies. In 1966 he became a non-tenured professor at the University of Göttingen.
Between 1968 and 1973, he conducted several expeditions to research the Turkic languages ofIran. This research led to one of the first descriptions of theKhalaj language. Other expeditions focused on theOghuz languages of Persia, including the study ofAzerbaijani and Southern Oghuz varieties (includingAfshar), and theTurkic varieties ofKhorasan.
In 1970 Doerfer was appointed a full professor of Turkic and Altaic Studies at theUniversity of Göttingen.
Doerfer became anemeritus professor in 1988. During his career, he served as a visiting professor at a number of institutions, includingIndiana University (1966-1969),Istanbul University (1975-1976), and theUniversity of Mainz (1994).
in 1975–1976, Doerfer served a tour of a visiting professor atIstanbul University. In his extensive and multi-faceted studies, Doerfer investigatedMongolian andTurkic elements inPersian language, culture, and folklore, wrote his four-volumeTürkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen (1963–75), and contributed greatly to the study of Persian-Turkic language contacts (1967).
Doerfer served as the executive president of the Societas Uralo-Altaica from 1975 to 1979, as the president of the Deutsch-Türkische Gesellschaft until 1990.[2]
Doerfer dismissed the validity of the Altaic language family concept. He argued that the words and features shared by Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic were cultural borrowings, and that any other similarities should be attributed to chance resemblances. He further states that if all three languages were genetically connected, the comparative language losses over time should be random instead of being limited to the geographical fringes of the family.
