David Appleyard

British academic and an expert on Ethiopian languages and linguistics. Professor Emeritus of the Languages of the Horn of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the University of London, specialising in Amharic and other Ethiopian Semitic languages, as well as various Cushitic languages of the region. After studying Amharic and Linguistics at SOAS 1968-7, and completing a doctorate there on the Semitic basis of the Amharic lexicon in 1975, with Edward Ullendorff as supervisor, I then joined the staff at SOAS where I remained from 1975 until retirement in September 2006. I taught Amharic language and literature, as well as courses on Ge’ez, Tigrinya, Somali, Oromo, African linguistics, and Ethiopian cultural history. In 2014 I won the British Academy Edward Ullendorff medal for Semitic Languages and Ethiopian Studies.
My linguistic research focuses both on Ethiopian Semitic and Cushitic, especially on the Central Cushitic or Agaw languages on which I have published numerous articles and monographs and a book. I have also published on Ethiopian linguistics in general, Ethiopian manuscripts, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and have published a beginner’s textbook for learning Amharic, Colloquial Amharic.
I act as a consultant on Ethiopian manuscripts and magic scrolls, and have worked for, amongst others, Christie’s of London, Sam Fogg Rare Books of London, and Princeton University Library. From 2007 I was involved as an editor and field specialist with the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica project.