Alexander John Sharpe (1814–1825)
Alexander John Ellis (1826–1890)
1814–90
Phonetician and mathematician. Born Alexander John Sharpe; adopted his mother’s maiden name of Ellis in 1825. BA, Cambridge (Trinity College), 1837. Developed phonetic alphabets and notation to improve English spelling and pronunciation; produced a five-volume history of English pronunciation. Translated Hermann Helmoltz’s work on acoustics. Provisional committee member of the Association of Liberal Thinkers, 1878. FRS 1865.
Sources
Letter from M. D. Conway, 18 November 1878
ODNB
Bibliography
ODNB: Oxford dictionary of national biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000. (Revised edition.) Edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. and index. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.
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