Origins & Early Life

Mary Rosamond Haas ( HAHSS; January 23, 1910 – May 17, 1996) was an American linguist who specialized in North American indigenous languages, Thai, and historical linguistics. She served as president of the Linguistic Society of America. She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Haas was born in Richmond, Indiana.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

She attended high school and Earlham College in Richmond. She completed her PhD in linguistics at Yale University in 1935 at the age of 25, with a dissertation titled A Grammar of the Tunica Language. In the 1930s, Haas worked with the last native speaker of Tunica, Sesostrie Youchigant, producing extensive texts and vocabularies. Haas undertook graduate work on comparative philology at the University of Chicago. She studied under Edward Sapir, whom she later followed to Yale.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

She began a long career in linguistic fieldwork by studying various languages during the summer months. Over the ten-year period from 1931 to 1941, Haas studied the Wakashan language Nitinat (Ditidaht), as well as a number of languages...

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