Sir Ralph Lilley TurnerMC (5 October 1888 – 22 April 1983) was aBritishphilologist ofIndian languages and a university administrator. He is notable for composing anIndo-Aryan comparative dictionary. He is also the author of some publications concerning theRomani language.

Turner was born inCharlton, London, the son of Bertha (Lilley) and George S. Turner. He was educated at thePerse School andChrist's College, Cambridge.

In 1913, he joined the Indian Educational Service as a lecturer at Queen's College,Benares. From 1915 to 1919, he served with the 2nd battalion,3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles in theBritish Indian Army duringWorld War I, winning theMilitary Cross inPalestine. From 1920 to 1922, he was Professor of Indian Linguistics atBenares Hindu University.

In 1922, Turner returned to England as Professor ofSanskrit at theSchool of Oriental Studies at theUniversity of London. Between 1924 and 1932, he also published several papers on Romani Studies in theJournal of theGypsy Lore Society, including "On the position of Romani in Indo-Aryan" (1927). He was director of the school from 1937 to 1957, although he continued to occupy his chair as well until 1954. From 1939 onwards he frequently warned theWar Office that given the possibility of war with Japan it was essential to start training linguists immediately, but his warnings were ignored. It was only after the outbreak of war with Japan that, early in 1942, theWar Office and theBoard of Education put together a plan with SOAS for short courses in Japanese to meet wartime demands.^[1]

He wasknighted in 1950. Hismagnum opus, theComparativeDictionary of theIndo-Aryan languages was published in 1966. AnIndex to this work was produced in 1969 by his wife Dorothy Rivers Turner,née Goulty, who had been arranging slips for the dictionary since the first year of their marriage in about 1920.^[2] She also collaborated onPhonetic Analysis in 1971, which appeared in print a few months before her death.^[3]

The British memorial in London to theGurkhas was unveiled by QueenElizabeth II on 3 December 1997.^[4] The legend on theGurkha memorial is taken from the following quotation written by Sir Ralph:

As I write these last words, my thoughts return to you who were my comrades, the stubborn and indomitable peasants of Nepal. Once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship. Once more I see you in your bivouacs or about your fires, on forced march or in the trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun. Uncomplaining you endure hunger and thirst and wounds; and at the last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke and wrath of battle. Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you.

He was married to Dorothy Rivers Goulty, with whom he had three daughters and a son.^[5] One of his grandchildren is ProfessorGeoffrey L. Smith, head of the Department of Pathology at theUniversity of Cambridge.

Another grandchild of Sir Ralph Turner isDavid Tee, who is in the current England 45+ indoor cricket team. Earlier in his career he had a successful few years for Hertfordshire, and toured theWest Indies representing Great British colleges.

Through his daughter, Kathleen L. Turner, one of his great-grandchildren is actorJeremy Irvine.

• Dictionary of National Biography
• Obituary: Sir Ralph Lilley Turner, Wright, J.C. & Cowan, C.D. (1984)Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. University of London. Vol. 47, No. 3. pp. 540–548.

• A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Language
• A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages

• Papers of Ralph Turner are held bySOAS Special Collections