Eric P. Hamp

Eric Pratt Hamp (born November 16, 1920) is an American linguist widely respected as a leading authority on Indo-European linguistics, with particular interests in Celtic languages and Albanian. Unlike many Indo-Europeanists, who work entirely on the basis of written materials, he has conducted extensive fieldwork on lesser-known Indo-European languages and dialects, such as Albanian, Arbëresh and Arvanitika; Breton; Welsh; Irish; and Scots Gaelic.

His wide-ranging interests have also included American Indian languages. He served for many years as editor of the International Journal of American Linguistics and did field work on Quileute and Ojibwa. He also studied linguistic aspects of braille.

Hamp's scholarship is characterized by the densely argued, narrowly focused note, essay and review, generally consisting of a few pages. He has written more than 3,500 articles and reviews, and nearly every important aspect of historical linguistics has been dealt with, often multiple times, in Hamp's writings.