Mary R. Haas

American linguist

Also known as: Mary Rosamond Haas

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Quick Facts

Born:: Jan. 12, 1910, Richmond, Ind., U.S.

Died:: May 17, 1996, Alameda county, Calif. (aged 86)

Also Known As:: Mary Rosamond Haas

Subjects Of Study:: American Indian languages; Muskogean languages; Tunica language

See all related content

Mary R. Haas (born Jan. 12, 1910, Richmond, Ind., U.S.—died May 17, 1996, Alameda county, Calif.) was a U.S. linguist. She studied with Edward Sapir at Yale University, where her dissertation was on Tunica, a moribund American Indian language. She continued her fieldwork on, and comparative studies of, American Indian languages, especially of the southeastern U.S., including the Natchez and Muskogean languages, for the rest of her life. She directed the Survey of California Indian Languages while on the University of California, Berkeley, faculty (1945–77). Many of her students have done invaluable descriptive work on nearly extinct languages.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.