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{{short description|Hungarian-American anthropologist}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Otto J. von Sadovszky
| name = Otto J. von Sadovszky
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| birth_name = Otto Joseph von Sadovszky
| birth_name = Otto Joseph von Sadovszky
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|07|03}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|07|03}}
| birth_place = [[Hungary]]
| birth_place = [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|05|12|1925|07|03}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|05|12|1925|07|03}}
| death_place = [[Orange, California]]
| death_place = [[Orange, California]]
| ethnicity = [[Hungarians|Hungarian]]
| nationality = [[Americans|American]]
| nationality = [[Americans|American]]
| other_names = Otto Joseph Rudolf Irene von Sadovszky
| other_names = Otto Joseph Rudolf Irene von Sadovszky
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}}
}}


'''Otto J. von Sadovszky''' (July 3, 1925 – May 12, 2004) was a [[Hungarian American]] [[anthropologist]]<ref name=tribute /> who worked at [[California State University, Fullerton]] in southern California for most of his career until his retirement. He is best known for his linguistic work attempting to link Native American languages of California to languages spoken in Siberia.
'''Otto J. von Sadovszky''' (July 3, 1925 – May 12, 2004) was a [[Hungarian-American]] [[anthropologist]]<ref name=tribute /> who worked at [[California State University, Fullerton]] in southern California for most of his career until his retirement. He is best known for his linguistic work attempting to link Native American languages of California to languages spoken in Siberia.


==Personal life and education==
==Personal life and education==


Sadovszky was born in [[Hungary]] on July 3, 1925 and grew to maturity there during World War II.<ref name=csuf-obit /> He and his wife Maria raised two children.
Sadovszky was born in [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]] on July 3, 1925 and grew to maturity there during World War II.<ref name=csuf-obit /> He and his wife Maria raised two children.


Sadovszky received his Ph.L. at Collegium Aloysianum in Italy.{{cn|date=May 2017}}
Sadovszky received his Ph.L. at Collegium Aloysianum.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}


After leaving Europe for the United States to study Sanskrit at [[UC Berkeley]] he met a graduate student in linguistics who was studying [[Miwok languages|Miwok]], and Sadovszky found that he could understand many of the terms from Miwok, a language of the [[Penutian]] group, despite having no training in it, due to the familiarity of many of the terms to [[Uralic languages]] from central [[Siberia]] he had studied earlier in Europe which were related to his native [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]. Sadovszky moved to Los Angeles to continue his graduate studies at [[UCLA]].<ref name=tribute />
After leaving Europe for the United States to study Sanskrit at [[UC Berkeley]] he met a graduate student in linguistics who was studying [[Miwok languages|Miwok]], and Sadovszky found that he could understand many of the terms from Miwok, a language of the [[Penutian]] group, despite having no training in it, due to the familiarity of many of the terms to [[Uralic languages]] from central [[Siberia]] he had studied earlier in Europe which were related to his native [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]. Sadovszky moved to Los Angeles to continue his graduate studies at [[UCLA]].<ref name=tribute />
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Sadovszky taught in Germany, and in the U.S. at [[UC Berkeley]], UCLA, and the [[University of Nevada, Reno]] before joining the [[California State University, Fullerton|Cal State Fullerton]] in [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] south of Los Angeles in 1971. He continued working there until his retirement in 1994, even after achieving professor emeritus status in 1991.<ref name=csuf-obit />
Sadovszky taught in Germany, and in the U.S. at [[UC Berkeley]], UCLA, and the [[University of Nevada, Reno]] before joining the [[California State University, Fullerton|Cal State Fullerton]] in [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] south of Los Angeles in 1971. He continued working there until his retirement in 1994, even after achieving professor emeritus status in 1991.<ref name=csuf-obit />


During his tenure as [[professor]] of anthropology at CSUF he claimed to have proven that almost 80 percent of the languages spoken by 19 Indian tribes in [[California]] and two nations in [[Siberia]] are related. This became known as the Cal-Ugrian Theory.<ref name=csuf-obit>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Emeritus Professor Otto J. Sadovszky Dies |url=https://calstate.fullerton.edu/news/people/2004/250_sandovszky.html |website=Calstate Fullerton.edu |location= |date=May 17, 2004 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628080436/http://calstate.fullerton.edu/news/people/2004/250_sandovszky.html |archivedate=2012-06-28 |accessdate=2014-11-30 }}</ref>
During his tenure as [[professor]] of anthropology at CSUF he claimed to have proven that almost 80 percent{{clarify|date=August 2017}} of the languages spoken by 19 Indian tribes in [[California]] are related to those spoken by two nations in [[Siberia]]. This became known as the Cal-Ugrian Theory.<ref name=csuf-obit>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Emeritus Professor Otto J. Sadovszky Dies |url=https://calstate.fullerton.edu/news/people/2004/250_sandovszky.html |website=Calstate Fullerton.edu |location= |date=May 17, 2004 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628080436/http://calstate.fullerton.edu/news/people/2004/250_sandovszky.html |archivedate=2012-06-28 |accessdate=2014-11-30 }}</ref>


===Cal-Ugrian theory===
===Cal-Ugrian theory===


Sadovszky elaborates the Cal-Ugrian theory in his book.<ref name=Cal-Ugrian>{{cite book |last=Von Sadovszky |first=Otto |date=1996 |title=The discovery of California: a Cal-Ugrian comparative study |url={{Google books|wg2DAAAAIAAJ|The discovery of California: a Cal-Ugrian comparative study|plainurl=yes}} |location=Budapest |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |series=ISTOR |volume=3 |page= |isbn=9789630566308 |accessdate=2014-12-01 }}</ref>
Sadovszky elaborates the Cal-Ugrian theory in his 1996 book.<ref name=Cal-Ugrian>{{cite book |last=Von Sadovszky |first=Otto |date=1996 |title=The discovery of California: a Cal-Ugrian comparative study |url={{Google books|wg2DAAAAIAAJ|The discovery of California: a Cal-Ugrian comparative study|plainurl=yes}} |location=Budapest |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |series=ISTOR |volume=3 |page= |isbn=9789630566308 |accessdate=2014-12-01 }}</ref> The theory describes the proposed relationship between the [[Penutian languages]] native to California (itself a disputed hypothesis) and the [[Ob-Ugric languages]] spoken in Siberia. According to Sadovszky, this relationship is based on more than 10,000 different words and grammatical traits. The Penutian languages were or are spoken in an area along the [[Northern California]] coast from [[Bodega Bay]] to [[Big Sur]]<ref name=magtudin>{{cite web |title=The Discovery of California: Breaking the Silence of the Siberia to America Migrators |last1=Sadovszky |first1=Otto |date=November 1984 |website=Magtudin.org |publisher=Magyarságtudományi Intézet (Institute Of Hungarian Studies) |url=http://www.magtudin.org/otto_sadovszky.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727055731/http://www.magtudin.org/otto_sadovszky.htm |archivedate=2011-07-27 |accessdate=2014-11-27 |quote= }}</ref> as well as along the [[Sacramento River|Sacramento]] and [[San Joaquin Valley|San Joaquin]] rivers; the Ob-Ugric languages by 6,000 [[Mansi people|Mansi]] and 17,000 [[Khanty people|Khanty]], east of the [[Ural Mountains|Urals]].<ref name="tribute">{{Cite web |title=Microsoft Word - Otto_von_Sadovzsky Tribute |url=http://www.fullerton.edu/emeriti/_resources/pdfs/tributes/von%20Sadovszky%20Otto%20Tribute.pdf}}</ref>
The theory describes the relationship between Native American languages in California and languages spoken in Siberia which according to Sadovszky is based on more than 10,000 different words and grammatical traits. The Indian languages were or are spoken in an area along the [[Northern California]] coast from [[Bodega Bay]] to [[Big Sur]]<ref name=magtudin>{{cite web |title=The Discovery of California: Breaking the Silence of the Siberia to America Migrators |last1=Sadovszky |first1=Otto |date=November 1984 |website=Magtudin.org |publisher=Magyarságtudományi Intézet (Institute Of Hungarian Studies) |url=http://www.magtudin.org/otto_sadovszky.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727055731/http://www.magtudin.org/otto_sadovszky.htm |archivedate=2011-07-27 |accessdate=2014-11-27 |quote= }}</ref> as well as along the [[Sacramento River|Sacramento]] and [[San Joaquin Valley|San Joaquin]] rivers, and by 6,000 [[Mansi people|Mansi]] and 17,000 [[Khanty people|Khanty]], east of the [[Ural Mountains|Urals]].<ref name=tribute>http://www.fullerton.edu/emeriti/_resources/pdfs/tributes/von%20Sadovszky%20Otto%20Tribute.pdf</ref>


One claim of Sadovszky's theory is that the ancestors of some California tribes arrived only 3,000 years ago, which is much more recently than the origin of most tribes in the Americas which according to the generally accepted theory regarding the [[settlement of the Americas]] date their original migrations to around 20,000 years ago across the Bering Strait. In contrast, the migration around 1,000 B.C.E. would have occurred from the [[Ob river]] delta across the Arctic Ocean in summer months and down the American coast.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |last=Billiter |first=Bill |date=January 1, 1985 |title=3,000-Year-Old Connection Claimed : Siberia Tie to California Tribes Cited |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-01/local/me-10267_1_tribes |deadurl=no |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128090656/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-01/local/me-10267_1_tribes |archivedate=2014-11-28 |accessdate=2014-11-29}}</ref>
One claim of Sadovszky's theory is that the ancestors of some California tribes arrived only 3,000 years ago, which is much more recently than the origin of most tribes in the Americas which according to the generally accepted theory regarding the [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|settlement of the Americas]] date their original migrations to around 20,000 years ago across the Bering Strait. In contrast, the migration around 1,000 B.C.E. would have occurred from the [[Ob river]] delta across the Arctic Ocean in summer months and down the American coast.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |last=Billiter |first=Bill |date=January 1, 1985 |title=3,000-Year-Old Connection Claimed : Siberia Tie to California Tribes Cited |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-01-me-10267-story.html |url-status=live |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128090656/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-01/local/me-10267_1_tribes |archive-date=2014-11-28 |access-date=2014-11-29}}</ref>


'''Criticism'''
==== Criticism ====
The Cal-Ugrian theory was not well accepted in the United States, with some linguists noting that he was not trained in comparative linguistics although he had done some fieldwork among California Indians. As a result, his book was published abroad, and the upshot was that he gained a reputation for his knowledge of Indo-European and Uralic languages but more so in Europe than in the United States. Evidence for a relatively recent marine migration is very limited, but Sadovszky claims that archaeological and other evidence back up the linguistic evidence of his theory but there has been little interest in further research in this area.
The Cal-Ugrian theory was not well accepted in the United States, with some linguists noting that Sadovszky was not trained in comparative linguistics although he had done some fieldwork among California Indians. As a result, his book was published abroad, and the upshot was that he gained a reputation for his knowledge of Indo-European and Uralic languages but more so in Europe than in the United States. Evidence for a relatively recent marine migration is very limited, but Sadovszky claims that archaeological and other evidence back up the linguistic evidence of his theory but there has been little interest in further research in this area.

Specialists in the [[Uralic languages]] have generally rejected Sadovszky's theory, citing general lack of understanding of the methods of [[comparative linguistics]], leading to his work being riddled with problems such as poor semantic and phonetic correspondences. Sadovszky often makes no effort to show that some material he compares is truly native within the two language groups he compares, often [[cherrypicking]] examples from just one or two of the dozens of languages encompassed by "Penutian".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Ugrisch und Penuti|author-first=Michael|author-last=Knüppel|year=2012|journal=Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen|volume=61|pages=92–109}}</ref>

The [[Dené–Yeniseian languages|Dené-Yeniseian language theory]] linking a cluster of Siberian and Native American languages has been much better received than Sadovszky's theory.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA|volume=95|issue=23|pages=13994–13996|date=November 1998|title=Anthropology : The origin of the Na-Dene|author=Merritt Ruhlen|doi=10.1073/pnas.95.23.13994|pmid=9811914|pmc=25007|bibcode=1998PNAS...9513994R |doi-access=free}}</ref>


== Selected works ==
== Selected works ==
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== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[Dené–Yeniseian languages]]
* [[Dené–Yeniseian languages]]

{{authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadovszky, Otto Von}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadovszky, Otto Von}}
[[Category:American anthropologists]]
[[Category:Linguists from the United States]]
⚫
[[Category:American linguists]]
[[Category:California State University, Fullerton faculty]]
[[Category:California State University, Fullerton faculty]]
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Uralic languages]]
[[Category:Uralic languages]]
[[Category:Penutian languages]]
[[Category:Linguists of Penutian languages]]
[[Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Finno-Ugrists]]
[[Category:Finno-Ugrists]]
[[Category:Paleolinguists]]
[[Category:Historical linguists]]
[[Category:20th-century American anthropologists]]
⚫
[[Category:20th-century linguists]]
[[Category:Hungarian expatriates in Germany]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty]]
[[Category:University of Nevada, Reno faculty]]

Latest revision as of 09:12, 15 August 2024

Otto J. von Sadovszky
Born
Otto Joseph von Sadovszky

(1925-07-03)July 3, 1925
Hungary
DiedMay 12, 2004(2004-05-12) (aged 78)
Orange, California
NationalityAmerican
Other namesOtto Joseph Rudolf Irene von Sadovszky
EducationUC Berkeley, UCLA
Occupation(s)professor, anthropologist
Years active1971-1994
EmployerCal State Fullerton
Known forCal-Ugrian theory
Notable workThe discovery of California: a Cal-Ugrian comparative study[1]

Otto J. von Sadovszky (July 3, 1925 – May 12, 2004) was a Hungarian-American anthropologist[2] who worked at California State University, Fullerton in southern California for most of his career until his retirement. He is best known for his linguistic work attempting to link Native American languages of California to languages spoken in Siberia.

Personal life and education

[edit]

Sadovszky was born in Hungary on July 3, 1925 and grew to maturity there during World War II.[3] He and his wife Maria raised two children.

Sadovszky received his Ph.L. at Collegium Aloysianum.[citation needed]

After leaving Europe for the United States to study Sanskrit at UC Berkeley he met a graduate student in linguistics who was studying Miwok, and Sadovszky found that he could understand many of the terms from Miwok, a language of the Penutian group, despite having no training in it, due to the familiarity of many of the terms to Uralic languages from central Siberia he had studied earlier in Europe which were related to his native Hungarian. Sadovszky moved to Los Angeles to continue his graduate studies at UCLA.[2]

Academic career

[edit]

Sadovszky taught in Germany, and in the U.S. at UC Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of Nevada, Reno before joining the Cal State Fullerton in Orange County south of Los Angeles in 1971. He continued working there until his retirement in 1994, even after achieving professor emeritus status in 1991.[3]

During his tenure as professor of anthropology at CSUF he claimed to have proven that almost 80 percent[clarification needed] of the languages spoken by 19 Indian tribes in California are related to those spoken by two nations in Siberia. This became known as the Cal-Ugrian Theory.[3]

Cal-Ugrian theory

[edit]

Sadovszky elaborates the Cal-Ugrian theory in his 1996 book.[1] The theory describes the proposed relationship between the Penutian languages native to California (itself a disputed hypothesis) and the Ob-Ugric languages spoken in Siberia. According to Sadovszky, this relationship is based on more than 10,000 different words and grammatical traits. The Penutian languages were or are spoken in an area along the Northern California coast from Bodega Bay to Big Sur[4] as well as along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers; the Ob-Ugric languages by 6,000 Mansi and 17,000 Khanty, east of the Urals.[2]

One claim of Sadovszky's theory is that the ancestors of some California tribes arrived only 3,000 years ago, which is much more recently than the origin of most tribes in the Americas which according to the generally accepted theory regarding the settlement of the Americas date their original migrations to around 20,000 years ago across the Bering Strait. In contrast, the migration around 1,000 B.C.E. would have occurred from the Ob river delta across the Arctic Ocean in summer months and down the American coast.[5]

Criticism

[edit]

The Cal-Ugrian theory was not well accepted in the United States, with some linguists noting that Sadovszky was not trained in comparative linguistics although he had done some fieldwork among California Indians. As a result, his book was published abroad, and the upshot was that he gained a reputation for his knowledge of Indo-European and Uralic languages but more so in Europe than in the United States. Evidence for a relatively recent marine migration is very limited, but Sadovszky claims that archaeological and other evidence back up the linguistic evidence of his theory but there has been little interest in further research in this area.

Specialists in the Uralic languages have generally rejected Sadovszky's theory, citing general lack of understanding of the methods of comparative linguistics, leading to his work being riddled with problems such as poor semantic and phonetic correspondences. Sadovszky often makes no effort to show that some material he compares is truly native within the two language groups he compares, often cherrypicking examples from just one or two of the dozens of languages encompassed by "Penutian".[6]

The Dené-Yeniseian language theory linking a cluster of Siberian and Native American languages has been much better received than Sadovszky's theory.[7]

Selected works

[edit]
  • Shamanism past and present, I–II (1989)
  • Shamans and Cultures (1993)
  • Fish, Symbol and Myth (1995)
  • Shamanism in performing arts (1995)
  • Vogul folklore (1995)
  • The Discovery of California: A Cal-Ugrian Comparative Study (1996)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Von Sadovszky, Otto (1996). The discovery of California: a Cal-Ugrian comparative study. ISTOR. Vol. 3. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 9789630566308. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
  2. ^ a b c "Microsoft Word - Otto_von_Sadovzsky Tribute" (PDF).
  3. ^ a b c "Emeritus Professor Otto J. Sadovszky Dies". Calstate Fullerton.edu. May 17, 2004. Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2014-11-30.
  4. ^ Sadovszky, Otto (November 1984). "The Discovery of California: Breaking the Silence of the Siberia to America Migrators". Magtudin.org. Magyarságtudományi Intézet (Institute Of Hungarian Studies). Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2014-11-27.
  5. ^ Billiter, Bill (January 1, 1985). "3,000-Year-Old Connection Claimed : Siberia Tie to California Tribes Cited". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  6. ^ Knüppel, Michael (2012). "Ugrisch und Penuti". Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen. 61: 92–109.
  7. ^ Merritt Ruhlen (November 1998). "Anthropology : The origin of the Na-Dene". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 95 (23): 13994–13996. Bibcode:1998PNAS...9513994R. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.23.13994. PMC 25007. PMID 9811914.
  • Science Illustrated 10/1985
  • "Otto von Sadovszky (1925-2004)", Pre-Columbiana: A Journal of Long-Distant Contacts, 3: 1–3 (Dec. 2003/June & Dec. 2004): 168–69.
  • I. Sutton, "The Ob-Ugrian/Cal-Ugrian Connection: Rediscovering The Discovery of California," American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 26(4) 2002: 113–120.

See also

[edit]
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