Orrin "Rob" Robinson

Contact Information:
Building 260, Room 251
Phone: 650 723 0413
Fax: 650 725 8421
owr@stanford.edu

Education:

1972 Ph.D. (Linguistics) from Cornell University
1968 B.A. from Stanford University

I returned to the Farm after getting my Ph.D. in 1972 and teaching in the Berkeley German department for a year. I have conducted research in a number of different areas in general and also in Germanic linguistics, with works on theoretical phonology (the formal structure of sound systems), the history and dialectology of various of the Germanic languages, and Old High German syntax.In addition, my recent interests include the question of exactly what data count as data when one is describing the language known as Modern "Standard" German.Among my recent publications are the books Old English and Its Closest Relatives (Stanford University Press, 1992), Clause Subordination and Verb Placement in the Old High German Isidor Translation (C. Winter,1997), and Whose German?: The ach/ich alternation and related phenomena in standard and colloquial (Benjamins, 2001)

Research
Interests:
Historical Germanic and German linguistics, Old High German Syntax, German dialectology, Modern German phonology
Teaching
Current Courses:
The Brothers Grimm and Their Fairy TalesStanford Introductory Seminar. Preference to freshmen. Historical, biographical, linguistic, and literary look at the Kinder- and Hausmärchen of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Readings from the fairy tales, plus materials in other media such as film and the visual arts. Small group performances of dramatized fairy tales. In German. Prerequisite: GERLANG 3 or equivalent.
Spr
GERMAN DIALECTSLinguistic characteristics of dialect areas. History of the study of language variation in Germany; traditional dialect grammars; dialect-geographical revolution; and insights of modern sociolinguistics. Sources include native speakers, professionally-made tapes with transcripts, and secondary readings.
Win
Selected Publications:
Whose German?: The ach/ich alternation and related phenomena in standard and colloquial 2001Link
Clause Subordination and Verb Placement in the Old High German Isidor Translation1996Link
Abstract phonology and the history of umlaut", Lingua 37 (1975):1-291975
'Upside-down Phonology', in the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, Oxford1994
"Old English and its Closest Relatives"1993Link
"Abstract Phonology and the History of Umlaut"1975