American linguist
Jeffrey Heath (born November 29, 1949) is Professor of Historical Linguistics, Morphology, Arabic and Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Michigan, US. He is known particularly for his work in historical linguistics and for his extensive fieldwork.
He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1971, the M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1973, and his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1976.
From 1973 to 1977 he was a research fellow at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. From 1977 to 1982 he was assistant professor of linguistics at Harvard, from 1982 to 1985, associate professor. In 1987 he moved to the University of Michigan as visiting associate professor. He has held the rank of professor since 1989.
His research is based on more than ten years of fieldwork: first on Australian languages (1970s; primarily in Arnhem Land on Gunwinyguan and Yolŋu languages), then on Muslim and Jewish vernaculars of Maghrebi Arabic (1980s), and since 1990 on languages of Mali in West Africa: Tamashek (Tuareg, Berber family), five Songhay languages, and since 2004 several of the Dogon languages (with Brian Cansler, Vadim Dyachkov, Abbie Hantgan, Laura McPherson, Steven Moran, Kirill Prokhorov, and the late Stephan Elders) including Jamsay.