Knut Bergsland (7 March 1914 – 9 July 1998) was a Norwegian linguist. Working as a professor at theUniversity of Oslo from 1947 to 1981, he did groundbreaking research inUralic (especiallySami) andEskaleut languages.
He was born inKristiania as a son of engineer Einar Christian Bergsland (1883–1945) and Henriette Louise Krogh Raabe (1883–1958). He was the brother of sports administratorEinar Bergsland. Hefinished his secondary education in 1932, and enrolled at theUniversity of Oslo. He also studied at theÉcole des Hautes Études and theInstitut Catholique from 1935 to 1936. He graduated with thecand.philol. degree in 1940, having specialized inLatin, but now concentrated more on theSami languages. His first linguistic work was a grammar of theSouthern Sámi language, released asRøros-lappisk grammatikk in 1946. This work earned him thedr.philos. degree,[1] and it is still the reference grammar of this language.
In 1947 Bergsland was appointed professor inFinno-Ugric languages at the University of Oslo, succeedingKonrad Nielsen. He continued his work on Sami languages, and also did important research inEskaleut languages, firstly a historical grammar ofKalaallisut (or Western Greenlandic), and then a dictionary and reference grammar ofAleut. His interest in these languages arose during two stays as a visiting scholar; respectively at theUniversity of Copenhagen in 1948 and theIndiana University at Bloomington in 1949–1950. He continued studying Aleut after retiring as a professor in 1981.[1] Bergsland's professorship was vacant until 1987, whenOle Henrik Magga replaced him.[2] Bergsland's final works wereAleut dictionary – Unangam tunudgusii (1994),Aleut Grammar (1997) andAncient Aleut Personal Names (1998). He died in July 1998.[1]
Bergsland held anhonorary degree at theUniversity of Helsinki.[3]
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