Biography.guide
Home › People › Linguist › James Hurford
Portrait of James Hurford

James Hurford

b. 1941

British academic and writer

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About James Hurford

Born 1941. James Hurford is a linguist.

James Raymond Hurford, FBA (born 16 July 1941) is a retired linguist and academic.

He was the General Editor of the book series Oxford Studies in the Evolution of Language, as well as a member of the Centre for Language Evolution (formerly Language Evolution and Computation) research group at the University of Edinburgh where he is an emeritus professor.

He also helped organize the series of International Conferences on the Evolution of Language, of which he was one of the founders.

Hurford was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2015.

Publications

Source:

2014 The Origins of Language: A Slim Guide 2011 The Origins of Grammar: Language in the Light of Evolution 2007 The Origins of Meaning: Language in the Light of Evolution 1994 Grammar: a Student's Guide 1987 Language and Number: the emergence of a cognitive system 1983 Semantics: a Coursebook 1975 The Linguistic Theory of Numerals

As Editor: 2000 The Evolutionary Emergence of Language: Social function and the origins of linguistic form, edited by Chris Knight, Michael Studdert-Kennedy and James R Hurford 1998 Approaches to the Evolution of Language: social and cognitive bases, edited by James R Hurford, Michael Studdert-Kennedy and Chris Knight.

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Education
University of Edinburgh
Employers
University of Edinburgh
Awards
Fellow of the British Academy
Also known as
James Raymond Hurford

People in James Hurford's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped James Hurford's

Frequently asked questions

Who is James Hurford?

British academic and writer

When was James Hurford born?

James Hurford was born on 16 July 1941.

What is James Hurford's occupation?

James Hurford is a linguist.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: James Hurford

· Wikidata: Q6136441

· DBpedia: James Hurford

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). James Hurford. https://biography.guide/james-hurford/

MLA: "James Hurford." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/james-hurford/.

Chicago: "James Hurford." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/james-hurford/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:26 UTC