Melville Jacobs
Encyclopedia
Melville Jacobs was an American anthropologist known for his extensive fieldwork on cultures of the Pacific Northwest
. He was born in New York City
. After studying with Franz Boas
he became a member of the faculty of the University of Washington
in 1928 and remained until his death in 1971. Especially during the earlier part of his career, from 1928 until 1936, he collected large amounts of linguistic data and text from a wide range of languages including Sahaptin
, Molale,
Kalapuya
, Clackamas, Tillamook
, Alsea
, Upper Umpqua, Galice and Chinook Jargon
.
He left funds to establish the Jacobs Research Fund, which supports anthropological research in the Pacific Northwest. His papers, including extensive raw linguistic material that has provided the basis for subsequent research on now extinct languages, are held by the University of Washington in the Jacobs Archive.
He was married to Elizabeth Jacobs
, also an anthropologist.
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. He was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. After studying with Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
he became a member of the faculty of the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in 1928 and remained until his death in 1971. Especially during the earlier part of his career, from 1928 until 1936, he collected large amounts of linguistic data and text from a wide range of languages including Sahaptin
Sahaptin language
Sahaptin , Sħáptənəxw, is a Plateau Penutian language of the Sahaptian branch spoken in a section of the northwestern plateau along the Columbia River and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern Oregon, and southwestern Idaho....
, Molale,
Kalapuya
Kalapuyan languages
Kalapuyan is a small extinct language family that was spoken in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon, United States. It consists of three languages.-Family division:Kalapuyan consists of...
, Clackamas, Tillamook
Tillamook language
Tillamook is an extinct Salishan language, formerly spoken by the Tillamook people in northwestern Oregon, United States. The last fluent speaker is believed to have died in the 1970s; between 1965 and 1972, in an effort to prevent the language being destroyed, a group of researchers from the...
, Alsea
Alsean languages
Alsea or Alsean was two closely related speech varieties spoken along the central Oregon coast. They are sometimes taken to be different languages, but it is difficult to be sure given the poor state of attestation; Mithun believes they were probably dialects of a single language.-Varieties:#...
, Upper Umpqua, Galice and Chinook Jargon
Chinook Jargon
Chinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia and as far as Alaska, sometimes taking on characteristics of a creole language...
.
He left funds to establish the Jacobs Research Fund, which supports anthropological research in the Pacific Northwest. His papers, including extensive raw linguistic material that has provided the basis for subsequent research on now extinct languages, are held by the University of Washington in the Jacobs Archive.
He was married to Elizabeth Jacobs
Elizabeth Jacobs
Elizabeth Derr Jacobs was an anthropologist specializing in the native cultures of the Pacific Northwest. She is known particularly for her work on the Nehalem Tillamook, the northernmost subgroup of the Tillamook, whom she studied in the 1930s...
, also an anthropologist.
Works
- A Sketch of Northern Sahaptin Grammar (1931)
- Notes on the Structure of Chinook Jargon (1932)
- Northwest Sahaptin Texts, I (1934)
- Texts in Chinook Jargon (1936)
- Northwest Sahaptin Texts, II (1937)
- Coos Narrative and Ethnologic Texts (1939)
- Coos Myth Texts (1940)
- Historic Perspectives in Indian Languages of Oregon and Washington (1941)
- Kalapuya Texts (1945)
- Outline of Anthropology (1947)
- General Anthropology; A Brief Survey of Physical, Cultural, and Social Anthropology (1952)
- Clackamas Chinook Texts (1959)
- The People are Coming Soon; Analyses of Clackamas Chinook Myths and Tales (1960)
- Pattern in Cultural Anthropology (1964)
- The Anthropologist Looks at Myth (1966)