German philologist Uli Kozok rocked the world of ancient linguistics and history in Indonesia when he discovered an ancient Malay manuscript in Kerinci, Jambi, in 2002. The discovery of the manuscript also contested the theory that the characters written on artefacts found in Sumatra were ancient Javanese characters.
Born in Hildesheim, Niedersachsen, Germany, on May 26, 1959, was a lecturer at the University of Auckland in 1994-2001 before he became Associate Professor at the Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature at the University of Hawaii in Manoa.
Kozok, who speaks German, English, Dutch, Indonesian and Batak fluently, obtained his master’s degree in 1989 and his PhD (Magna cum laude) in 1994 from the University of Hamburg. His thesis was on the Batak language.
His three books on the Batak language, written in Indonesian, were published in Indonesia in 1999 and 2005. His upcoming book: Aku Anak Siapa: Potret Anak Jalanan di Yogyakarta is based on interviews with street children by Juliani Wahjana (Radio Nederland).
LANGUAGE COMPETENCY
Indonesian: Near-native fluency in reading, comprehension, writing.
Malay: Excellent listening comprehension, fluent reading, including Arabic (Jawi) and Sumatran Surat Ulu scripts.
Batak: Intermediate mid-high speaking and listening comprehension, but excellent reading comprehension in Karo Batak; limited speaking, but good reading competence in Angkola, Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, including the Batak scripts.
German:Native
East-Frisian: Excellent reading, very good listening comprehension.
English: Upper Advanced reading, listening, and writing skills.
Dutch: Excellent reading, very good listening, and upper-intermediate speaking comprehension.
Other: He studied Latin for six, and Greek for three years at high school. and has limited reading knowledge of French, and Spanish, and fair reading knowledge of Italian.
Click here for all his articles in this website.
