Remembering G. Nick Clements

An obituary by the members of the Laboratory of Phonetics and Phonology

G. Nick Clements was born on Oct. 5, 1940, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and attended Moses Brown School in Providence. In 1962, he graduated with high honors from Yale University, majoring in fine arts and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, which celebrates the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities. After a year in Nashville as a classical music DJ, he served in the Army Signal Corps for two years, stationed in Germany. Following his service, he lived in Spain for several years, painting, studying art and writing for an English language periodical. In 1968, he received a certificat from the Centre de Linguistique Quantitative, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Paris. From 1971 to 1973, he was adjunct professor of American English at the University of Paris 8. In 1973, he received his Ph.D. in linguistics from the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, defending a thesis on the Ewe language based on fieldwork in Ghana. He was a visiting scientist and lecturer at the department of foreign languages and linguistics at MIT (1973-1975), and held appointments as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at Harvard (1975-1982). In 1982, he moved to Cornell University, where he was Professor of linguistics and Director of the Phonetics Laboratory. In 1992, he came to Paris, where he became Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and worked in the Laboratory of Phonetics and Phonology (UMR7018). He held this position until 2008, when he was elected Professor Emeritus. Clements was also an invited professor in various prestigious universities across the world, in Europe, USA, India, Australia, etc. He was also very active in the academic world. In the last three years, he organized two widely attended international conferences at the Sorbonne University: one on “The phonetic bases of distinctive features” in 2006 and one on “Where do phonological features come from?” in 2007.

Clements’ research interests were wide-ranging and he made outstanding contributions in phonology and phonetics- phonology interface. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on syllable and feature theory and his pioneering work on the phonological systems of various African languages, including tonal and vowel-harmony systems. His recent cross-linguistic studies on phonological units have contributed in designing and developing theories and models on phonological representations and have led to a better understanding of the role of features in speech sound inventories. A characteristic feature of Clements’ works is his rigorous scientific method and his unusual gift for finding the most convincing argumentations and drawing the clearest and most synthesized conclusions. Clements was not only an excellent connoisseur of the field, not only an expert on the language or languages studied, but also an outstanding theoretician and a highly trained phonetician. He left behind for us tremendous work in the areas of phonology and phonetics. He wrote and co-authored five books and nearly 100 articles, including journal articles, book and encyclopedia chapters, conference and working papers. He was productive until the end of his life, with some major contributions still to appear.

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of G. Nick Clements, who died on Sunday, September 30, 2009 in Chatham, Massachusetts from cancer. Nick Clements's career as a linguist spanned nearly forty years, during which he contributed to our understanding of phonetics, of phonological theory, and of a range of languages of Africa and Europe. After receiving his PhD from the School of African and Oriental Studies in 1973 for a study of Ewe syntax, he spent nine years in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working first at MIT and then at Harvard. He moved to Cornell University in 1982, where he was professor of Linguistics and director of the phonetics laboratory. In 1992, he became Directeur de Recherche at the CNRS in Paris, France, which became the home of his work from that time onward. He was an invited professor and lecturer around the world, and taught at many prestigious linguistics institutes both in the United States and abroad. Nick's many contributions to the field of linguistics were innovative and influential, and an inspiration to many. Guided by keen insights and a rigorous scientific method, his search for the truth about a particular aspect of language advanced our understanding of the categorization and organization of phonological units, of African syntax and tone, of vowel harmony systems, of the phonetics-phonology interface, among many others areas. His studies were always the epitome of careful scientific research and elegant argumentation.

Those among us who were honored to have been associated with Nick will forever remember him as a man of tremendous humility, a sincere and careful listener, and a creative thinker with the ability to masterfully synthesize ideas and data so as to bring clarity to some long-standing problem. His kind and fun-loving spirit touched many, but none more so than the family he loved so much: his life partner, Annie Rialland, his children, William and Célia, and his brother, sisters and their families.

I know that I speak for so many in saying that it was an honor and a privilege to have been associated with such a great man.

Elizabeth Hume
Professor and Chair
Department of Linguistics
The Ohio State University

PROLOGUE: Tales from Three Parisian Restaurants

I. It was a nice sunny day in Paris in June 2007 when I met Nick and Annie for lunch on a sidewalk cafe on the Av. de la Motte. No sooner had I sat down when Nick asks, “Larry, do you think tones have features?” Like other phonologists, I had been vaguely thinking about this question, but given our past relationship, I was not surprised at all that Nick had gotten there before me. When Beth Hume invited me to the Tones and Features Symposium in honor of Nick, it seemed entirely appropriate, therefore, that I speak on this subject where he had so greatly influenced me in the past.

II. Fast forward to a mild day in December 2008 when I was again in Paris. Nick had suggested that we meet with Annie for lunch at Le Pré Verre in the 5e. Having touched on a number of subjects, we inevitably slid back into tone. Not knowing what his role had been in planning the Tones and Features Symposium, or how much detail knew about its contents, I announced to him that I would be coming back for a workshop in Paris in June 2009 to present a paper entitled “Do tones have features?” I saw him light up with a playful smile as he slowly replied, “Well... Alexis Michaud, Cédric Patin and I are presenting a paper, also at a workshop in Paris in June, entitled ‘Do tones have features?’” We laughed after which I replied, “Hmm, maybe we should join forces?” Nick then suggested that it could be more interesting if we saw what we came up with independently—and it was: Although citing different phenomena, we agreed entirely, except that the three authors changed their title to “Do we need tone features?”

III. The Symposium was a great event, intellectually, humanly, and gastronomically. At the symposium dinner au Train Bleu, Lauren and I had the honor of sitting next to Nick and Annie. This of course gave us more opportunities to talk, not so much about linguistic issues, but about past fun times together. Since it was a bit noisy to make testimonial speeches, I instead gave him a bit of my speech personally. Like the other presenters, I had said a few special words about Nick before presenting my talk, but I had a lot more to reminisce about. We talked about the letter he had written to me from SOAS around 1972 about serial verbs, after which I brought up one of the first times we had met: It was a symposium on Tone, Stress and Intonation organized by Donna Jo Napoli at Georgetown in 1977. Jean-Marie Hombert and I were already seated waiting for the symposium to begin when Nick entered, walked directly up to Donna Jo and gave her a big, audible bisou. I told Nick how I remembered thinking how much this guy had everything I aspired to: He’s tall, he’s brilliant, and he gets to kiss the girls! Nick broke out laughing, but quickly corrected me: “Larry,” he said, “Donna Jo is Italian—I’m sure it was rather that she kissed me!” Quite by coincidence, Donna Jo emailed me as I was preparing my handout in Berkeley and I shared my funny memory with her too.

I told Nick that I had wanted to continue the joke about our two overlapping talks at Le Pré Verre in 2008, when I could have asked him whether he thought it was fair, three against one? “Shouldn’t we even out the playing field?” My proposed humorous answer was that he would respond, “Why? Do you think that Alexis, Cédric and I need a couple more people to join us?” But I didn’t think this would be in character: Nick would not answer a question with a question, rather with an answer.

I was so happy to have the opportunity to reiminsce further, and bring up several other incidents and exchanges we had had over the past 37 years, which we both looked back on with amusement. During this period I have repeatedly thanked Nick in person for his generosity and his sensitive understanding and support of others, including myself. (We heard a very moving written tribute from Fidèle Mpiranya at the Train Bleu dinner.) Everyone will agree he was a brilliant and innovative scholar whose influence will continue to impact linguistics for many decades to come. Equally important for everyone who knew him was the person. Nick was a prince among linguists.

Nick Clements ou la rencontre de la dernière chance

En 2003, sept ans après avoir soutenue ma thèse Lyon, j’avais épuisé toutes mes possibilités pour ce qui est de faire une carrière linguistique en France. Je me disais vaguement qu’il restait peut-être un petit espoir du coté des Etats-Unis ou dans certains pays de la zone Bantu. Alors, quand Larry Hyman m’a obtenu un rendez-vous avec Nick Clements et Annie Rialland, je me suis dit que c’était sans doute ma rencontre de la dernière chance, avec tout ce que ca comporte d’excitation, mais aussi d’appréhension.

Pendant des semaines, je me suis demandé : ″qu’est ce que je vais pouvoir leur dire d’intéressant!?″. C’est surtout Nick qui me donnait le plus d’appréhension. Annie ayant beaucoup travaillé sur la tonologie du Kinyarwanda, je me disais que nous pouvions sans doute trouver des éléments de discussion. Quant à Nick, je le connaissais surtout comme théoricien. Comme je travaille dans une approche essentiellement descriptive, je me disais que mes projets vont sans doute lui sembler banals et fades. Pour faire bonne figure, j’ai fait le résumé de tout ce que j’avais fait auparavant et des pistes de recherche sur lesquelles je travaillais.

Puis vint le jour J. J’arrive à Paris, je reconnais Annie, qui me présente immédiatement à Nick. Et là je me dis, que ca ne marchera jamais entre nous : trop grand, la mine sévère. Alors, quand on arrive à l’étage, je crois plus malin de changer de plan et de parler plutôt des travaux de Nick, sur la façon dont je m’en inspire. Je me lance donc dans mon petit speech, et là, surprise : Nick me dit qu’il aime aussi ce que je fais ! Je lui dis que c’est gentil, mais que je le prends seulement comme un encouragement. Et là, Nick insiste et se met à parler avec force détails d’un article que j’avais écrit cinq ans auparavant, dans un modeste journal africaniste.

Sur le coup, je me suis vraiment senti quelqu’un. Je n’étais plus le renégat, le pestiféré que j’avais été pendant plus de sept ans. Tout à coup, toute appréhension était oubliée. Avec Annie, nous avons bavardé sur divers sujets sur lesquels je travaillais et d’autres sujets d’intérêt général.

Au risque de paraître immodeste, depuis cette rencontre avec Nick et Annie, je me suis remis à croire en moi. J’ai conscience que je peux faire des erreurs, mais aussi des choses dignes d’intérêt.

Alors Nick, même si tu n’aimes pas qu’on te dise merci, j’espère que tu accepteras que je saisisse cette occasion pour t’exprimer ma reconnaissance, de même qu’à Annie.

Fidèle Mpiranya
University of Chicago
Chicago, 16 Juin 2009

Nick Clements was my introduction to generative phonology in my second year in the doctoral program at Cornell University. He was a phenomenal teacher, and almost made a phonologist out of me. It was through his guidance and encouragement that I pursued research into the development of tone from Middle to Modern Chinese. Although my research program did not ultimately continue down this path, I learned some of my best lessons about the conduct of research from Nick. Years later, when I was assigned to teach advanced phonology at the U of SC (to fill in for someone who had left), it was the course notes from Nick’s class that served as my principle guide. I still have those notes.

Far from “just” being an exceptional teacher and mentor, Nick was one of the kindest colleagues one could have. I feel lucky to have had him as a teacher, and to have known him for these many years after.

A note of thanks

There is no doubt that Nick Clements will be remembered as one of the most productive and original phonologists of the 20th century and early 21st century on issues such as feature theory, syllable structure, and tonal representations with applications to a staggering number of languages, among which many African languages. I personally remember writing to him in 1985 to ask him questions about his 1983 book (with S.J. Keyser) 'CV Phonology: A Generative Theory of the Syllable'. I did not know him at the time but already thought of him with a certain awe given his rising fame. I was surprised to receive a letter back within a few days. (Email was not so common then.) His response was detailed, frank in his discussion of various possible difficulties for his account of syllable structure and extremely friendly. I felt flattered that Nick Clements should reply with so much kindness to somebody perfectly unknown to him. Thereafter I regularly met Nick Clements at various venues and was always impressed by his openness and generosity. Working in a minority framework, that of Dependency Phonology, I always felt that Nick was able to transcend theoretical frameworks to see what different proposals had in common and not what opposed them. It seems to me that he built important bridges between North America and Europe and was a true "passeur" who got the best out of all of us. In recent years, his work on the interface between phonology and phonetics showed once again the way forward for linguistic science.

I feel profoundly indebted to Nick Clements and deeply saddened that he left us so so abruptly. I wish to convey my sincere condolences to his wife - our friend Annie Rialland - his children and his family. I also know how much all his colleagues at the Laboratoire de Phonétique et de Phonologie in Paris 3 will miss him and how his passing away will leave an enormous gap there as well as within our whole community.

Jacques Durand
Université de Toulouse II, CNRS & Institut Universitaire de France

Nous avons appris avec beaucoup de tristesse la disparition de Nick Clements et nous souhaitons vous présenter nos plus sincères condoléances au nom de l’ensemble des membres du laboratoire Parole et langage. Cela fut un privilège de le côtoyer au sein du CNRS et de bénéficier de son formidable apport à notre discipline. Au-delà de cette contribution scientifique d’exception, nous souhaitons rendre hommage à un collègue dont les grandes qualités humaines ont été saluées par toutes celles et tous ceux qui ont eu l’honneur de l’approcher.

To all of us who knew him, Nick was the embodiment of a fine scholar, and his contributions to the field will resonate for many years. The project that resulted in the two recent meeting in Paris on features and their origins were especially exciting for those of us in the MIT Speech Group. But what lingers most in our minds and hearts is the way Nick could listen. His manner let us know that he was hearing what we were trying to say, even if only partially successful, and that he was thinking carefully about it. This is one of the greatest compliments one scholar can pay to another, and he did it always.

My two most vivid memories of Nick, aside from the Features conferences, involve sitting at a table drinking coffee and telling him about my most dearly-held theoretical convictions. One was about 35 years ago, at a cafe in Harvard Square, and the other was last November at the ASA meeting in Miami. My thoughts were not the same at these two widely separated moments, but Nick's manner was. On both occasions his quiet interest and encouragement led me to express my ideas more clearly than I had been able to before. What a gift he gave me---so much so that the memory of that moment has remained with me all these years. I am grateful that I knew him.

I would like to add a word of appreciation and gratitude, echoing what others have said. I got to know Nick around 1990, towards the end of my graduate studies, as I was aiming to become a Bantuist and looking for role models in my chosen field. Nick was an obvious role model from his work. He'd written seminal papers on tone and other areas of autosegmental phonology, on syllable structure, on the phonology-syntax interface. What I didn't expect when I first met him was that he would also turn in to a role model as a colleague. He was approachable and interested in the ideas of beginners like me, making us take our ideas seriously enough to make them better because he took them seriously. His grave and thoughtful manner overlay a real kindness and thoughtfulness towards others and a sense of humor that I got to appreciate as I continued to see him at irregular intervals at conferences over the years. It was an honor to be in the audience at the Symposium honoring him this past June, to hear all the stories others had to tell about how he'd inspired them, to learn again from his own talk and the questions he had for the others, and to also appreciate him as a warm and human colleague at the symposium dinner as we laughed at the stories he and Larry had to tell. He'll
always be a role model.

When I received Annie’s note that Nick had died, I wrote: “I am heartbroken, for you, the children, for Nick and for myself. You have lost a husband and a father. I've lost an irreplaceable friend, one who is so much a part of my life that his death is a little of my own.”

My reaction was not about Nick. It was about me. I suppose mine was a natural reaction. It was a way of protecting myself from the full brunt of the loss by focusing on myself and not on Nick.

Now, a month away from that terrible moment, I am able to think of him. I think of an incomparable colleague with whom I wrote a book in MIT’s Building 20, a building that, like Nick, is gone but will not be forgotten. We often worked at night until 2 or 3 in the morning, checking the pages as they came out of the printer. We had to do this over the telephone because the printer was located in a building a block away. Nick would proof the pages as they came out. Then he would telephone to tell me what changes to make. I would enter them on my computer in Building 20, press the print command and wait for his next phone call. So it went until the full text of CV Phonology was produced.

What a labor of love that was. Both he and I wanted to give MIT Press copy that it could take straight to the printer. We wanted the Press to sell the book at the lowest possible price.

Nick was proud of that book. I know because a year and a half ago he told me that it was the most cited book in phonology on some research index that I have forgotten the name of. It was the only time I can remember Nick ever allowing himself out loud the luxury of being pleased with something he had done.

He was the most self-effacing scholar and friend I have ever met. He was also the gentlest and freest from animus. When someone criticized CV Phonology, where I would immediately adopt a defensive crouch, ready to fight back, Nick would quietly go about assessing the criticism as if it were made about someone else’s work.

A few years ago when Nick came to Boston for treatment, he and Annie asked me if I would take care of a painting for him. It was a copy of Giorgione’s Madonna and Child with St. Anthony and St. Roch. The copyist was Nick himself. He had made the copy at the Museo del Prado in Spain when he was studying to be an artist. He was in his twenties at the time.

The painting hung in my office for several months before Nick was well enough to return to Paris. While it was with me, I would examine it carefully, trying to imagine why Nick chose it. I suppose it offered some treacherous technical exercise in chiaroscuro that would have extended Nick’s command of the medium. But I have always favored another explanation. The painting is completely at peace with itself. It is an image of serene repose before the coming catastrophe of the Crucifixion.

I think of Nick that way, someone who had managed to find that place of serenity in spite of the coming catastrophe.

Nick was planning a visit to Cambridge. He was spending the summer on the Cape. Not having heard from him for a bit, I wrote to suggest some days when we might meet. He said the days I’d picked wouldn’t work, that his children were coming. There was not a hint of the crisis he was entering. In the end Annie told me that Nick wanted to spare his friends the anguish of seeing him suffer.

Perhaps that was an act of pride. But I shall always remember him in the Giorgione he chose to copy. I will never look at the painting without seeing Nick. On second thought perhaps I will never look at that painting again.

When I first met Nick around 1980, he stood out as formidably intelligent and knowledgable, and very shy. So I was shy in return, and as I was completely in awe of him too, I spoke with him very little until one day we walked up Mass Ave together and I discovered how exceptionally nice and
unassuming he was--and interesting too, about all sorts of things. That walk left a strong impression. Our paths crossed very little until about four years ago, when he invited me to contribute to one of his Features conferences. It was through that conference that I learned just what a truly remarkable person Nick was. He was more than understanding and generous when unexpected family commitments made me ask to leave the conference early. And then, as editor with Pierre Halle of the conference proceedings (a special issue in Journal of Phonetics), he gave me a truly joyful experience in writing up the paper. I have never before had the privilege of such a wonderful combination of incisive yet constructive criticism over a wide range of subject matter, complete freedom to follow my own ideas, and enthusiastic respect and encouragement, even when my paper was late. It was an exciting experience of scholarship at its best. When I included Nick and Pierre in my acknowledgements, they wrote: "we believe we're just doing our job as editors and that editors should not, as a rule, be acknowledged by name." Respecting their views as I did, I thought hard about this, then acknowledged them anyway. I am so glad that I did.

Thank you, Nick, and Annie too, for your quiet kindness and lasting inspiration, and for going beyond the rules.

A mon sens, le plus grand hommage que nous devons faire à M. Clements doit passer par des mots. En effet, en de pareilles circonstances, les mots ont un effet de consolation magique. Mais n’oublions pas que c’est à ses unités qu’il a consacré une bonne partie de sa vie pour comprendre leurs structures. Finalement, ce sont, peut-être les mots eux-mêmes qui essaient, à travers nous, de lui rendre hommage.

Je suis convaincu que c’est l’intelligence exceptionnelle de M. Clements combinée à sa passion pour la recherche qui lui ont permis d’avoir une érudition et une production quantitativement et qualitativement extraordinaire. Je suis persuadé que les joies des nombreuses découvertes qu’il faisait l’aidaient à renouveler l’énergie physique qu’il dépensait pour continuer à alimenter sa curiosité scientifique personnelle ainsi que ses productions.

M. Clements partageait facilement non seulement ses découvertes, mais également ses intuitions. Il accordait suffisamment de temps et d’intérêts aux travaux des autres, malgré ses nombreux engagements scientifiques et personnels. Ses remarques et ses conseils étaient toujours très pertinents et très efficaces.

Personnellement, je dois beaucoup de choses à M. Clements ainsi qu’aux autres membres du laboratoire. C’est notamment grâce à lui que j’ai appris à appliquer rapidement les ingrédients principaux d’une étude scientifique complète: savoir formuler les bonnes problématiques en se basant sur les cadres théoriques existants, savoir collecter les données pertinentes, et savoir élaborer une analyse et discussion théorique et empirique rigoureuses de ses données.

M. Clements ne négligeait aucune de ses trois étapes. En effet, même s’il avait ses propres modèles théoriques, il était ouvert aux autres conceptions théoriques ; il disait qu’elles doivent forcément contenir des idées positives. Inspirateur de la phonologie du laboratoire, il nous a appris à se donner tous les moyens pour collecter les données les plus pertinentes. Malgré le caractère très complexe des problématiques, il essayait toujours de trouver l’analyse la plus cohérente. Il savait que si on respectait ces critères, la conséquence logique ne peut être qu’un travail bien argumenté et des données très précieuses et atemporelles.

Je pense que l’une des caractéristiques majeures qui ressort des idées de M. Clements est leur constance. Il est parmi les rares auteurs dont les travaux ont su garder une continuité naturelle sans jamais se contredire, et ce, malgré leur quantité très importante.

M. Clements a beaucoup apporté à son équipe et à la science en générale. Ses précieux apports ont eu lieu grâce également à sa générosité débordante, sa patience et sa faculté d’écoute extraordinaire.

Ses qualités intellectuelles et humaines susciteront toujours chez les personnes qui l’ont connu à la fois du respect et de l’admiration. Il restera toujours dans ma mémoire, puisqu’il a su me convaincre de partager plusieurs de ses idées.

I met, or should I say, saw Nick for the first time at a chaotic meeting of some sort at Paris 8-Vincennes, where it turns out we both taught in the early 70’s. He was standing against a wall on the other side of the room, much taller than anyone else around him. And he didn’t look French. At the time I didn’t know who he was.

I followed Nick’s work closely in the area of syllable theory, in the area of tone and its role in the grammar and in the area of feature geometry. The time of his extremely important contributions in these areas coincided with my own interest, and I read and reread his papers. He’s a linguist for whom I have always had the deepest respect.

Now that he is gone, I find myself sorely regretting we didn’t cross paths personally more often than we did over the years. In the times that we did spend together, he was utterly generous both intellectually and personally. I would have loved to have learned more about him, and to have had more experience of the pleasure of being with him. I would have loved to have heard him play the jazz piano.

This is a late answer to your last letter. You kindly asked me to revise my chapter for the book on the origin of features/contrasts. I was just willing to answer you when I learned that you crossed the river.

Sadly, I won’t meet you as planned. I still have a lot to learn from your contribution to the geometry of phonology. Thank you so much Nick.

Cher Rachid,
Nos condoléances les plus sincères pour la disparition du Grand Bonhomme que fut Nick Clements. Ici, les phonéticiens strasbourgeois l'appréciaient beaucoup pour sa clairvoyance scientifique, son intérêt pour les travaux cinéradiographiques, et son humanisme. Il restera toujours présent dans nos esprits de chercheurs.
Amitiés de tout l'IPS, et à bientôt !

Rudolph Sock
Institut de Phonétique de Strasbourg (IPS) & Composante Parole et Cognition (PC)

I have only just learned of the death of Nick Clements. I have been moved by the many tributes paid to him and would like to add my own from a slightly different perspective. Nick was my student when he was working for his PhD at SOAS (the School of Oriental and African Studies, London) where I was lecturer in Linguistics and West African Languages. Together with Professor C.E. Bazell I supervised his doctoral thesis on Ewe syntax. But that is a misleading way of putting it: we met regularly to discuss his work, but I felt systematically that I was being supervised by Nick as much as vice versa. The penetration of his linguistic insight matched the penetration of his gaze and I regularly felt first exposed and then enlightened. The greatest joy of a teacher is to have students who go beyond what one can do oneself. Nick was such a student and I feel simultaneous pride and humility that he dedicated his (1977) “Tone and syntax in Ewe” to me. I still find it hard to believe he has gone. He will be sorely missed but not forgotten.

Deux trois choses que je sais de Nick Clements

Nick Clements me laissera toujours le souvenir d’un authentique gentleman, outre son aura de grand savant de dimension mondiale.

Nous connaissons tous son apport décisif à la théorie phonologique, dans tous les domaines de la recherche sur le fonctionnement des systèmes segmentaux et prosodiques dans les langues du monde. Tous ceux qui l’ont approché ont pu apprécier la modestie, la gentillesse, la discrétion, la délicatesse de l’homme derrière le savant, qui ne se mettait jamais en avant, parce qu’il était sincère et intelligent.

Il était frappant de constater, à chaque rencontre, combien Nick Clements ne disqualifiait jamais personne, cherchant toujours à mettre en valeur les qualités et l’apport de la contribution de chacun. Il soutenait les étudiants doctorants avec une stratégie aussi fine qu’efficace, leur proposant de cosigner des contributions, d’organiser ensemble des séminaires et des événements scientifiques. Dans un monde académique où l’on peine à mesurer le « pouvoir symbolique » de Homo Academicus, et où l’on tend trop, désormais, à en définir la transposition marchande, Nick restait fidèle au plus authentique esprit humaniste des savants et des philosophes qui ont fait progresser l’humanité. Plutôt que de chercher à exercer un « pouvoir », il donnait confiance aux jeunes chercheurs et à ses collègues, il suscitait l’intérêt pour des objets de recherche complexes en cherchant toujours comment les représenter de la manière la plus élégante et la plus accessible. Nick Clements était un authentique gentleman, sans pour autant être un gentleman scholar. Il était un vrai savant, qui avait su ne pas se faire dévorer par ces démons intérieurs qui rôdent autour du chercheur moderne que sont le narcissisme, l’obsessionnalité, la volonté de pouvoir, l’aveuglement au contexte humain. Cela ne veut pas dire que ces défauts sont très répandus dans le monde de la recherche, mais comme je l’ai évoqué plus haut, ce sont des ombres qui rôdent autour de nos pratiques et de nos actions, en raison de la nature de notre métier, très cérébral, et du système institutionnel dans lequel nous travaillons, en perpétuel changement – et certaines tendances actuelles risquent de faire pencher la balance du côté sombre.

Nick Clements restera certes pour nous tous une référence, mais au-delà de son prestige et de la valeur heuristique de ses idées et des systèmes qu’il a conçus, Nick Clements restera une figure humaniste, un modèle sur le plan humain, un maître dans le sens le plus noble du terme. Un maître de l’art de faire de la science à la fois un art et toute autre chose que de l’art, dans la plus pure tradition humaniste des sciences du langage.

C'est avec douleur et surprise que j'ai appris la disparition d'un des éminents phonologues de notre temps. Moi qui ai suivi ses cours à Paris 3 en 1995-6-7 avant la soutenance de ma thèse, fasciné par ses conférences sur les traits distinctifs, la profondeur de ses visions, son humanisme, je ne peux que me rejoindre à ses amis et proches ainsi qu'à ses étudiants pour témoigner de sa grandeur. Il restera à jamais mon maître, et se n'est qu'on cherchant ses nouvelles publications sur internet que j'ai appris sa douloureuse disparition. Je pense en particulier à mon professeur Annie Rialland, son épouse, et à tous ceux avec qui j'ai partagé le grand plaisir d'assister à ses conférences. J'espère lui rendre l'hommage qui lui est dû en continuant à transmettre à mes étudiants son savoir.
Que Dieu ait son âme et toutes mes condoléances à sa famille et à ses proches.

Nous venons d'apprendre avec émotion le décès de notre professeur Nick Cléments, nous tenons à témoigner notre compassion et nous associons à la douleur de toute l’équipe du laboratoire de phonétique et de phonologie des Bernardins notamment à son épouse Annie Rialland.
Nous sommes à Dieu et à lui nous retournons.

Hassan NEJMI, Université Hassan II- Mohammedia BenMsik Casablanca
Socorro Gutierrez Corréa de NEJMI, Institut Cervantes de Paris
Murad MAWHOUB Université Mulay Slimane Benimellal
Muhammed TAKI, Université Mulay Slimane Benimellal
Hamid ZAHID, Université Kaddi Ayyad Marrakech
Hana BERKALLIL, Ecole Hassania des Travaux Publics

Remembering G. Nick Clements

Presentations from the symposium in honor of G. Nick Clements (June 18-19, 2009) (link forthcoming)