Carl G. Croneberg
A black and white photo of Carl Croneberg
Croneberg in the early 1960s
Born
Carl Gustav Arvid Olof Croneberg

(1930-04-26)April 26, 1930
Norrbacka, Sweden
DiedAugust 7, 2022(2022-08-07) (aged 92)
CitizenshipSwedish and American
Occupation(s)Researcher, professor
SpouseEleanor Wetzel
Children3
Academic background
Education
Academic work
DisciplineLinguist
Sub-disciplineAmerican Sign Language
InstitutionsGallaudet University

Carl Gustav Arvid Olof Croneberg[1] (April 26, 1930 – August 7, 2022) was a Swedish-American Deaf linguist known for his work on American Sign Language (ASL).

Early life and education

Croneberg was born in 1930 in Norrbacka, near Stockholm. He lost his hearing at the age of 10 and was subsequently sent to a Deaf institution where he was educated in Swedish Sign Language. In 1951 he was recruited by Gallaudet University president Leonard M. Elstad to enroll at the university. He graduated in 1955 with bachelor's degree in English.[2][3][4]

Career

Croneberg and Stokoe at Linguistic Research Laboratory (1961)[5]

In 1958, Croneberg was recruited by William C. Stokoe to work in a research laboratory for a linguistic analysis of the language of signs. Alongside researchers William C. Stokoe and Dorothy S. Casterline, he noticed that ASL has a linguistic system (phonology, morphology, syntax). They recognized ASL as a natural language with its own rules of grammar and syntax. Later, he was a co-writer of A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, with Stokoe and Casterline.[6] In the book, Croneberg gave an early ethnographic and sociological portrait on the Deaf community and its regional dialects.[7]

Croneberg was one of the first sociologists to use the term "culture" to describe signing deaf Americans' way of life, and was the first to discuss the differences between Black ASL and white ASL.[8] The term was first written in uppercase as "Deaf culture" in 1975.[9] The work on Deaf Culture and Black American Sign Language continues.[10] Croneberg knew four languages: Swedish, German, English and ASL.[7] He taught in the English department at Gallaudet University for 30 years until his retirement in 1986.[2]

On May 13, 2022, Croneberg was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Gallaudet University for his pioneer work in American Sign Language research.[11]

Personal life and death

Croneberg was married to the former Eleanor Wetzel, and had two daughters and a son.[3] He died on August 7, 2022, at the age of 92.[3]

Publications

  • Stokoe, William C.; Dorothy C. Casterline; Carl G. Croneberg. 1965. A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet College Press[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Carl-Gustaf A. O. Croneberg : B.A., 1955". gaislandora.wrlc.org. October 26, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 1 2 Ballard, Carey (2019). "Carl Croneberg: unsung hero". Sign Language Studies. 20 (1): 173–176. doi:10.1353/sls.2019.0017. S2CID 213587733.
  3. 1 2 3 Risen, Clay (August 29, 2022). "Carl Croneberg, Explorer of Deaf Culture, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Carl-Gustaf A. O. Croneberg : B.A., 1955 | Library Deaf Collections and Archives". gaislandora.wrlc.org. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  5. ↑ Maher, Jane. 1996. Seeing Language in Sign--The Work of William C. Stokoe, Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, p. 89
  6. 1 2 Stokoe, William C; Casterline, Dorothy C; Croneberg, Carl G (December 3, 1965). A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. Linstok Press. OCLC 855307958 – via Open WorldCat.
  7. 1 2 Hochgesang, J. A., & Miller, M. T. (2016). A celebration of the Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles: Fifty years later. Sign Language Studies Journal, 16(4).
  8. ↑ Stokoe, William; Dorothy Casterline, and Carl Croneberg. 1965. Appendix D: sign language and dialects. A Dictionary of American Sign Language. Silver Spring, MD: Linstok.
  9. ↑ Woodward, J. 1975. How You Gonna Get to Heaven if You Can't Talk with Jesus: The Educational Establishment vs. the Deaf Community. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
  10. ↑ McCaskill, Carolyn; Ceil Lucas; Robert Bayley, and Joseph Hill. 2011. The Hidden Treasure of Black Asl: Its History and Structure. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. ISBN 978-1-56368-489-0.
  11. ↑ "Commencement 2022". April 22, 2022.
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