Recent publications in the history and philosophy of the language sciences – April 2021

Posted on 10 April 2021 by ChloĂ© Laplantine — Leave a comment

Marco Tamburelli & Mauro Tosco, ed. 2021. Contested Languages. The hidden multilingualism of Europe. Amsterdam : John Benjamins. Studies in World Language Problems, 8. 271 p. ISBN : 9789027208040
Publishers’ website

This is the first volume entirely dedicated to contested languages. While generally listed in international language atlases, contested languages usually fall through the cracks of research: excluded from the literature on minority languages and treated as mere ensembles of geographically defined varieties by traditional dialectology. This volume investigates the nature of contested languages, the role language ideologies play in the perception of these languages, the contribution of academic discourse to the formation and perpetuation of language contestedness, and the damage contestedness causes to linguistic communities and ultimately to linguistic diversity. Various situations and degrees of language contestedness are presented and analysed, along with theoretical considerations, exploring potential roads to recognition and issues in language planning that arise from language contestedness. Addressing the “language vs dialect” question head on, the volume opens up new perspectives that are relevant to all students and researchers interested in the maintenance of linguistic diversity.

Read more ›
Posted in Publications, Uncategorized

Workshop: Language in the Global History of Knowledge, 29–30 April 2021

Posted on 10 April 2021 by The Editor — Leave a comment

KU Leuven (online), 29–30 April 2021
https://relicta.org/lghk/index.html

This workshop discusses various ways in which language and the study of language figured in the global history of knowledge, from the 16th to the early 20th century. In the expanding network of mercantile, missionary, and colonial relations, language was both a vessel and a barrier for the transmission of knowledge. Moreover, languages became an object of knowledge and theory-formation in themselves, in ways that diverged from how their speakers knew their language and their world.

Our aim is to address the interrelations between these different kinds of knowledge. The emergence of the language sciences has to be understood both in relation to traditions of textual scholarship within different cultures, and to developments in other fields of science (broadly understood).

Read more ›
Posted in Announcements, Conferences and workshops

History of Linguistics in East and South-East Asia

Posted on 5 April 2021 by The Editor — Leave a comment

Below are two talks originally presented at the meeting of the Society for the History of Linguistics in the Pacific, December 2020, on the history of the grammatical description of Vietnamese and Chinese.

Quang Anh Le, Time-marking particles and the problem of grammatical categorisation in Vietnamese: From French colonialism to the post-Cold War era

Edward McDonald, Ma Jianzhong and the perils of being a pioneer

Posted in 19th century, 20th century, China, Grammars, History

Podcast episode 14: The emergence of phonetics in the 19th century

Posted on 31 March 2021 by James McElvenny — 1 Comment
Michael Ashby

In this interview, we talk to Michael Ashby about the emergence and development of phonetics in the 19th and early 20th century.
Read more ›

Posted in Podcast

2021 Annual Colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society

Posted on 20 March 2021 by ChloĂ© Laplantine — Leave a comment
University of Westminster

The 2021 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas will be held online on the 22-23 April 2021, hosted by the University of Westminster, London.

The programme is available here.

Registration (as an audience member) : LAS-exec-asst@westminster.ac.uk by Sunday 11th April 2021.

Website : https://www.henrysweet.org/2021-annual-colloquium

Posted in Conferences and workshops

Recent publications in the history and philosophy of the language sciences – February-March 2021

Posted on 15 March 2021 by ChloĂ© Laplantine — 1 Comment

Knobloch, Clemens. 2020. Umfelder des Sprechens. Sprachtheoretische Versuche ĂĽber das Gemeinte. Siegen: universi. 360 p. ISBN : 978-3-96182-068-9
Publisher’s website

So lange man uns nicht danach fragt, können wir mit dem Gemeinten umgehen. Wenn wir es aber explizieren oder definieren sollen, geraten wir in Schwierigkeiten.
Die linguistische Semantik belehrt uns, dass es in keiner Sprache Zeichen gibt, die exakt den Zeichen einer anderen Sprache entsprechen. Sprachliche Bedeutungen sind es jedenfalls nicht, die wir meinen, sondern mit ihnen und durch sie hindurch immer etwas anderes, das selbst nicht zur Sprache gehört. Die Semantiker nennen es gern „Referenz“ und modellieren es als außersprachlichen Bezug der sprachlichen Kommunikation auf reale Dinge. Aber geht das Gemeinte wirklich auf in der Adresse eines singulären Objekts der Außenwelt?
Der Band versucht, die sprach- und kommunikationswissenschaftliche Frage nach dem Gemeinten in der Tradition einer „Linguistik des Sprechens“ zu beantworten.

The book is available here.

Read more ›
Posted in Publications

History of Linguistics in Australia

Posted on 8 March 2021 by The Editor — Leave a comment

The following are a selection of three talks on the history of linguistics in Australia originally delivered at the meeting of the Society for the History of Linguistics in the Pacific, December 2020.

Jane Simpson, Grammars for analysis, grammars for learners

William McGregor, From Herman Nekes notebooks to Nekes & Worms 1853

David Moore, Developments in grammatical analysis of Central Australian languages 1890–1910

Posted in Australia, History, Linguistics

Podcast episode 13: Interview with John Joseph on Saussure

Posted on 1 March 2021 by James McElvenny — 1 Comment
John Joseph

In this interview, we talk to John Joseph about Ferdinand de Saussure.
Read more ›

Posted in Podcast

Funding opportunity for international MA students in Paris

Posted on 19 February 2021 by ChloĂ© Laplantine — Leave a comment

The Paris Graduate School of Linguistics (PGSL) is a newly-formed Paris-area graduate program covering all areas of language science. It offers a comprehensive curriculum integrating advanced study and research, in close connection with PhD programs as well as with the Empirical Foundations of Linguistics consortium. Research plays a central part in the program, and students also take elective courses to develop an interdisciplinary outlook. Prior knowledge of French is not required (except for two MA specialties: ‘Teaching French as a Foreign Language’ and ‘Signs, Discourse, Society’.)

There will be five international student scholarships for 2021-2022 of 8000 euros/year for 1st or 2nd year MA students in linguistics (requirements: not having French nationality and not holding a French university degree). Depending on performance, 1st year MA students may be awarded a scholarship for their second year as well.

Read more ›
Posted in Jobs and funding

The Facts of Whorf’s Hopi Research

Posted on 7 February 2021 by The Editor — 2 Comments
Benjamin Lee Whorf

In this talk, Penny Lee presents some preliminary results from her research into the personal diaries of Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941).
Read more ›

Posted in 20th century, America, Article, History, Linguistics