Give talk a chance

Give talk a chance

By: Kara Fitzpatrick, Staff Writer 06/13/2006

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski Ephraim Isaac, director of the Princeton-based Institute of Semitic Studies, says communication is the key to peace, and language is the key to communication. Scholar seeks world peace through understanding of languages Only through communication will there be peace. And only with language will there be communication. So Ephraim Isaac has dedicated his life to both causes — peace and languages. "People have described me as a Renaissance man," Mr. Isaac said while sipping coffee from a tall glass, smiling in between sips. He explained how his pair of passions make a fitting collaboration. "Language offers a bridge between us," said Mr. Isaac, a resident of Grover Avenue in Princeton Township. "Language is really an interpretation of our emotions." Mr. Isaac, who speaks 17 languages, is co-founder and director of the Institute of Semitic Studies in Princeton, the nation's only independent institute that is dedicated to the study of Semitic languages — some of the earliest known to man — including Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic and related languages such as Oromo, Berber and Coptic. Founded in 1985, the institute publishes the Journal of Afroasiatic Languages — the only publication of its kind in the United States. Mr. Isaac said he feels an urgency to educate the public about this family of speech. "If we do not study these languages, we will not be able to understand the development of language," Mr. Isaac said. In addition to publishing the scholarly journal, the Institute of Semitic Studies sponsors educational symposiums. Mr. Isaac first came to Princeton in 1979 as a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study and later became a visiting professor at Princeton University, where he taught the university's first Swahili class. After serving as an educator at various universities — in 1969, he helped establish Harvard University's first African-American studies program, and has taught at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Lehigh University, the University of Pennsylvania and others — he said he was motivated to establish the institute after noticing a gap in the study of Semitic languages. "They are actually overlooked," he said, adding that often when they are taught, it is "in a very superficial way." Originally from Ethiopia, Mr. Isaac said he has been captivated by language as far back as he can remember. "Ethiopia is a country rich with culture," Mr. Isaac said, recalling that he heard dozens of dialects as a child. "Even though I didn't speak those languages, I heard them and I was fascinated." Although Mr. Isaac is a world-renowned linguistic scholar — his fluency is not limited to Afroasiatic languages; he also knows Chinese, French, Spanish and more — the current world climate has made him more interested in his other passion, peacemaking. "The institute works out of my brain, the peace work comes out of my heart," he said. For years, Mr. Isaac has traveled internationally to help resolve conflicts in places such as Northern Ireland, Israel and his homeland of Ethiopia. Mr. Isaac said he has seen what results if peace is not present — he witnessed war firsthand in Ethiopia as a child and was in Israel during the Six-Day War. "I have actually seen artilleries and bullets exploding in front of my eyes. I have seen my friends killed," he said. "I have always wondered why people have to fight." His efforts in peacemaking have been recognized throughout the world — he received the United National Association of Ethiopia Peace Award in 2000 and the Peacemakers in Action Award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in 2002, among other distinctions. And while Mr. Isaac has dis- tinguished himself academically, he believes the acquisition of knowledge takes more than immersing yourself in studies. "Humility, kindness, generosity, respect for others — that's in a big package I call wisdom," he said.

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