Sadly I report the death of Anthony Traill, noted phonetician and general 
expert on Khoisan and other languages of southern Africa. Tony’s most 
important scholarly contributions were in phonetics, especially his 
extensive work on clicks, e.g., Traill 1994a, but he also published on 
other phonetic phenomena such as depressor consonants, tone, voice quality, 
etc., e.g., Traill 1985. Tony also published extensively on the genetic 
relationships in Khoisan (or the lack thereof), e.g., Traill 1986, and 
documented the disappearance of the phylum’s constituency, e.g., Traill 
1996, as well as the languages themselves, e.g., Traill 1994b. One of his 
non-specialist productions was “Extinct South African Khoisan Languages”, a 
CD documenting the death of Khoisan languages with digitized versions of 
the earliest recordings (Traill 1997). Because of the boycott of South 
Africa during the apartheid regime, not all of Tony’s publications were 
known as well as they should have been. Nonetheless, among experts in his 
various fields his work was recognized as always being of the highest 
quality: fastidious, detailed, and often understated; eventual recognition 
was shown by his Honorary Membership in the Linguistic Society of America 
in 1998. 
 
Tony’s Ph.D. and B.A. were awarded by the University of the Witwatersrand 
(“Wits”), but he was also able to study at the University of Edinburgh 
where he earned a master’s degree. Virtually all of his academic career was 
spent at Wits, although he did spend a sabbatical year abroad in Germany, 
and traveled extensively to universities around the world once the ban on 
South Africa was lifted. Tony was instrumental in developing the Center for 
African Studies at Wits, and although his professorship and chair were in 
the Linguistics Department, he remained deeply involved in the Department 
of African Languages. 
 
As a mentor Tony had few peers. He was especially helpful to those who had 
been disadvantaged by the apartheid system but also to younger students and 
scholars from abroad. Scholars from around the world corresponded with him 
and some visited, even when the country was closed. Once the boycott was 
lifted, many more came to participate in and learn more about his research 
program, as well as partake of his warm collegiality. 
 
Tony spoke both !Xóõ and Zulu fluently (as well as Afrikaans) and had warm 
working and personal relationships with the speakers of these languages, to 
the extent such were possible in South Africa. For visiting linguists, of 
whom there were many, there was no greater pleasure than to accompany Tony 
on a research trip to the Kalahari and watch him at work (and play) with 
his main working group of !Xóõ speakers. Tony had a deep and knowledgeable 
passion for the South African countryside. He loved the outdoors and took 
great pleasure in showing visitors and friends the Khoisan cave drawings 
high up in the Drakensburg. For those who knew him professionally, 
personally, or both, there is a deep sense of loss and to some extent 
regret that he was not more widely known and appreciated.