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Thomas Givon

Thomas Givon, also known as Talmy Givón, was an Israeli-born American linguist and a founder of West Coast Functionalism in linguistics.

1936 to 2026West Coast Functionalism in linguisticsResearch on grammaticalizationEvolutionary approach to language

Born: 22 June 1936, Afula
Died: 24 September 2026
Occupation: linguist
Education: University of California, Los Angeles

Thomas Givon was born in 1936 in Afula

Thomas Givon was born on 22 June 1936 in Afula. He earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1959.

At UCLA he earned a master's degree in horticulture in 1962, a master's degree in linguistics in 1966 and a PhD in linguistics in 1969. He also studied plant biochemistry there.

He researched Bantu languages at the University of Zambia, then taught linguistics at UCLA from 1969 and became a full professor in 1979. In 1981 he moved to the University of Oregon, where he helped found the linguistics department. His work covered many language families and fields such as syntax, grammaticalization and language evolution.

He edited the book series Typological Studies in Language and supported an evolutionary approach to language. He also wrote novels and translations through his own publishing house, White Cloud Publishing. He died in 2026.