A man of many words

Brian Sietsema, an MIT-trained linguist (PhD '89) and Greek Orthodox priest, has built a unique career bridging language science and theology. Starting with a childhood fascination with the word 'akimbo,' he pursued linguistics at MIT under Morris Halle, working on metrical phonology and tonal patterns in Bantu languages. He later became pronunciation editor at Merriam-Webster, introducing the International Phonetic Alphabet to their publications and overseeing the 10th edition of the Collegiate Dictionary. Since 2003, he has served as associate pronouncer at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, helping spellers decode word roots. His dual expertise as linguist and priest informs both his scholarly work and pastoral care, including a notable defense of reason during the COVID-19 pandemic that hinged on a mistranslation of a Greek theological term.

Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/06/23/1138267/a-man-of-many-words. 8 Sync News only summarizes and links out; content copyright belongs to the authors and original sources.