Memories of Raimo Aulis Anttila (1935–2023)

Raimo Aulis Anttila (1935-2023) Professor Emeritus of Indo-European Linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was an internationally recognized authority in the field of Historical Comparative Linguistics for both Finno-Ugric and Indo-European Languages.

A PhD from Yale University (1966), prior to joining UCLA (1976), he had held a teaching post in Comparative Linguistics at the University of Helsinki (1971-76), and at various times, was Visiting Professor in that field at other European Universities. Along with two other notable colleagues, Professor Anttila was co-founder of The Journal of Indo-European Studies, and served on the editorial board of several other Linguistics Journals.

Professor Anttila was a meticulous scholar with broad expertise of multiple languages and their historical development into their present-day status. He was a meticulous scholar with an in-depth grasp of the complexities of grammars and a profound command of the mechanisms of language change such as the interrelationship between languages and cultures, the mechanisms at play in the processes of Borrowing, particularly through language contact, and the influence of Analogy. He was particularly cognizant of the effect of analogical factors on the linguistic sign and its subsequent evolution (Analogy. The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter. 1977.)

Beyond Semiotics, Professor Anttila was a first-rate philologist who firmly believed in the primacy of the historical context while pursuing studies in Comparative Historical Linguistics (see his article entitled "Change and metatheory at the beginning of the 1990s: the primacy of history." In Charles Jones, ed., Historical linguistics: perspectives and problems, pp. 43-73. London. Longman. 1993.

Professor Anttila's depth and breadth of knowledge was further coupled with a keen interest in philosophy and cognition as these areas transpired through the mechanisms of language change and internal reconstruction methods; (witness his article entitled "Field theory of meaning and semantic change." In G. Kellermann and M. Morrissey, eds., Diachrony within synchrony: language history and cognition, pp. 23-83. Duisburger Arbeiten zur Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft 14. Frankfurt. Peter Lang. 1992.)

His broad interest in various academic areas is further clearly seen in numerous additional publications. But perhaps, at least for me, his most impactful publication, and arguably most widespread publication, was that of An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics 1972.

As a student in Linguistics at California State University, Fullerton I took the Historical and Comparative Linguistics course that required as its main textbook An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics 1972 by Raimo Anttila. I was hooked. I applied to UCLA's doctoral program in Indo-European Studies and in the fall of 1980, and also for the first time, I came face to face with the author of the notorious "black book."

During my tenure as a PhD student at UCLA, and later on as a colleague, Professor Anttila was the perfect mentor. He was a teacher, counselor, and advisor. For instance, he worked with me on several drafts of my first paper to make it a publishable work in a peer-reviewed journal. He was always available for consultation, whether it was about which materials to access for a project, a paper, or a lesson, or it was about which hacks would have helped a student memorize Proto-Indo-European noun and verb classes or the lengthy list of Proto-Indo-European personal pronouns.

He was always very generous with his time. On one occasion, when the aftermath of winter flooding impelled the other three students in the class to drop out, Professor Anttila continued to hold class with me as the sole student rather than cancel it, knowing that a cancellation would have caused undue hardship on my strict timeline towards graduation. Additionally, during that same winter, those rains often made me late for class. Yet, Professor Anttila continued undeterred to hold class, often waiting more than several minutes for me to get to the classroom located across campus. When I entered, he would get up from behind the desk and start his lecture, filling the blackboard with many examples aimed at reinforcing the outline I had found placed by him on my desk. Those handouts were the same ones I used in my subsequent 40 years plus of teaching Comparative Historical Linguistics.

Professor Anttila had also a great but sometime quirky sense of humor, often regaling a gathering of students with a joke that invariably held a linguistics underpinning to the punch line. He was patient, supportive and inspiring. He had a passion for pushing the boundaries of learning but above all, he had a great love for his hometown in Finland. That love was superseded only by his loyalty towards his students as when he gave up his usual summer vacation in his beloved Turku to help me prepare for my Greek final exam. He was always demanding but always fair and always, always gracious.

Requiescat in pace Professor Anttila. You are greatly missed.