Thomas Oden Lambdin Explained

Thomas Oden Lambdin (October 31, 1927 – May 8, 2020) was an American linguist and scholar of the Semitic and Egyptian languages.^[1] He received his Ph.D. in 1952 from the Johns Hopkins University Department of Near Eastern Studies, where his advisor was William Foxwell Albright; his dissertation was on "Egyptian Loanwords and Transcriptions in the Ancient Semitic Languages."^[2] He was appointed as an associate professor of Semitic Languages at Harvard University in 1964.^[3] He retired from Harvard in 1983 and served as Professor Emeritus until his death.^[4] He was admired not only for his research^[5] and his "tireless teaching",^[6] but for the quality of his introductory textbooks on Biblical Hebrew, Coptic, Ge'ez and Gothic language. His Festschrift, Working with No Data: Semitic and Egyptian Studies Presented to Thomas O. Lambdin (ed. David M. Golomb and Susan T. Hollis; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1987) includes a full bibliography of his publications, as well as chapters by John Huehnergard and Richard J. Clifford about their experiences as his students^[6]

Works

• 1958. The Bivalence of Coptic Eta and Related Problems in the Vocalization of Egyptian. Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 17. 3. 177–193. 10.1086/371466. Lambdin, Thomas O.. 161100821 .
• Book: 1971. Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd . 978-0-232-51369-1. Thomas O. Lambdin..
• Book: Introduction to Classical Ethiopic. Harvard Semitic Studies 24. Missoula, Montana. Scholars Press. 1978. 0-89130-263-8. Thomas O. Lambdin.
• Book: 1983. Introduction to Sahidic Coptic. Macon. Mercer University Press. Thomas O. Lambdin.
• Book: 2006. Introduction to the Gothic Language. Eugene. Wipf & Stock. Thomas O. Lambdin.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Thomas Oden Lambdin . Cremation Society of New Hamphsire . May 1, 2021.
2. Book: The Published Works of William Foxwell Albright: A Comprehensive Bibliography. Boston. American Schools of Oriental Research. 1975. 223. Freedman, David Noel.
3. Web site: Six Linguists Named To Strengthen Dept. . The Harvard Crimson. April 8, 2017.
4. Web site: Semitic Scholar Lambdin To Leave University Post. The Harvard Crimson. February 11, 2012.
5. Web site: Linguist Lambdin. Colin D Smith blog. April 8, 2017.
6. Smith. Mark S.. 1989. "Working With No Data": Semitic and Egyptian Studies Presented to Thomas O. Lambdin. Hebrew Studies. 30. 134–.