Arika Okrent at Lojban Festival at Philcon in 2006

Arika Okrent /ˈɛrɪkə ˈoʊkrɛnt/[1] is an American linguist and writer of popular works on linguistic topics.

Early life and education

Okrent was born in Chicago to parents of Polish and Transylvanian descent. She was fascinated by languages beginning at an early age, which is what made her pursue a career in linguistics.

After graduating from Carleton College in 1992,[2] she left for Hungary to teach there for a year.[3] She earned an M.A. in Linguistics from the Gallaudet University,[4] and a Ph.D. in Psycholinguistics from the University of Chicago in 2004.[5]

Career

Okrent is known particularly for her 2009 book In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, a result of her five years of research into the topic of constructed languages.[6][7] Her well-received 2021 book, Highly Irregular, written with Sean O'Neill, explains how the history of English explains a number of its modern irregularities and exceptions.[8][9]

She is featured in Sam Green's 2011 Esperanto documentary entitled, The Universal Language.[10]

She is a regular contributor on linguistics and language topics to the online magazine Mental Floss.[11]

Honors and awards

In 2015 Okrent became the second winner of the Linguistic Society of America's Linguistics Journalism Award.[12]

Personal life

She can communicate in English, Hungarian, American Sign Language and Klingon,[6] and has a good passive command of Esperanto.[13][14]

She is the niece of writer and editor Daniel Okrent.

Books

  • Okrent, Arika (2009). In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language. Spiegel & Grau. pp. 352. ISBN 978-0-385-52788-0.
  • Okrent, Arika and O'Neill, Sean (2021). Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don't Rhyme And Other Oddities of the English Language. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197539408.

References

  1. ↑ Arika Okrent's homepage
  2. ↑ Linguistics. "Man vs. Language! Language Wins! public talk by linguist and author Arika Okrent ('92) - Carleton College". www.carleton.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  3. ↑ "Arika Okrent '92". Linguistics: Alumni. Carleton College. 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  4. ↑ "Linguistics for Laypeople | Tableau". tableau.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  5. ↑ "Alumni | Linguistics". linguistics.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  6. 1 2 M. J. Stephey, "Arika Okrent: Speaking Klingon", Time, May 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  7. ↑ "Dreaming of a Perfect Language". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  8. ↑ "Highly Irregular by Arika Okrent book review | The TLS". TLS. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  9. ↑ "Review of Highly Irregular". old.linguistlist.org. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  10. ↑ "Esperanto documentary: The Universal Language". Esperanto Language Blog | Language and Culture of the Esperanto-Speaking World. 2011-01-12. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  11. ↑ "Arika Okrent". Mental Floss. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  12. ↑ "Arika Okrent announced as winner of LSA Linguistics Journalism Award | Linguistic Society of America". www.linguisticsociety.org. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  13. ↑ Questions Answered: Invented Languages, Schott's Vocab.
  14. ↑ Arika Okrent about Esperanto in CNN, September 17, 2010.
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