Origins & Early Life

Kenneth Locke Hale (August 15, 1934 – October 8, 2001) was an American linguist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studied a huge variety of previously unstudied and often endangered languages—especially indigenous languages of North America and Australia. Languages investigated by Hale include Navajo, O'odham, Warlpiri, Damin, and Ulwa. Among his major contributions to linguistic theory was the hypothesis that certain languages were non-configurational, lacking the phrase structure characteristic of such languages as English. Hale was born in Evanston, Illinois.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

When he was six, his family moved to a ranch near Canelo in southern Arizona. He attended the Verde Valley School before Hale said he was "thrown out" for being too distracted by his study of languages, before transferring to Tucson High School. As a young man, Hale was an avid bull and bronc rider. A film clip of Hale being thrown from a bull in the 1952 Tucson Rodeo was used as stock footage and is included in the film Arena. He was a student at the University of Arizona from 1952 and obtained his PhD from Indiana University Bloomington in 1959 with a thesis on Papago grammar.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He taught...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• 2001 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 2001
• October 8 (10-08) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on October 8