
In this interview, we talk to Noam Chomsky about the intellectual environment in which generative grammar emerged.
Read more ›In this interview, we talk to Noam Chomsky about the intellectual environment in which generative grammar emerged.
Read more ›26â30 August 2024, Tbilisi, Georgia
Hosted by
The Sixteenth International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences, ICHoLS XVI, will be held from 26 to 30 August 2024 in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Read more ›Online workshop, 1â2 December 2022
Organisers: James McElvenny and Clara Stockigt
This workshop will bring together linguists, anthropologists and historians to discuss the history of the documentation, description and revival of the Aboriginal languages of Australia. Central questions to be addressed by the workshop include:
Read more ›In this interview, we talk to Christopher Hutton about linguistic scholarship under National Socialism and how this relates to linguistics today.
Read more ›With the recent passing of Konrad Koerner on 6 January 2022, we offer here as a tribute to his life and work some excerpts from a previously unreleased biographical interview, recorded on 2 January 2019 at his apartment in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin.
In the two excerpts selected here he describes first how he established his publishing relationship with John Benjamins of Amsterdam and then how he came to organise the first ICHoLS conference in Ottawa in 1978.
In this episode, we look at psychologist Karl BĂŒhler’s (1879â1963) Organon model of communication and observe its influence on the linguists Nikolai Trubetzkoy (1890â1938) and Roman Jakobson (1896â1982), who were associated with the Prague Circle.
Read more ›On 8â11 June 2022, the 31st International Colloquium of the âStudienkreis âGeschichte der Sprachwissenschaftââ (SGdS) on Language and Language Awareness in the History of Linguistics will take place at the Europa-UniversitĂ€t Flensburg.
The choice of topics may range from antiquity to the present.
Read more ›Marcin Kilarski. 2021. A History of the Study of the Indigenous Languages of North America. Amsterdam : John Benjamins. Studies in the History of the Language Sciences, 129. 443 p. ISBN : 9789027210494
Publisher’s website
The languages indigenous to North America are characterized by a remarkable genetic and typological diversity. Based on the premise that linguistic examples play a key role in the origin and transmission of ideas within linguistics and across disciplines, this book examines the history of approaches to these languages through the lens of some of their most prominent properties. These properties include consonant inventories and the near absence of labials in Iroquoian languages, gender in Algonquian languages, verbs for washing in the Iroquoian language Cherokee and terms for snow and related phenomena in Eskimo-Aleut languages. By tracing the interpretations of the four examples by European and American scholars, the author illustrates their role in both lay and professional contexts as a window onto unfamiliar languages and cultures, thus allowing a more holistic view of the history of language study in North America.
Read more ›In this interview, we continue the theme of the previous episode and talk to Jacqueline LĂ©on about John Rupert Firth (1890â1960), BronisĆaw Malinowski (1884â1942) and the London School.
Read more ›The 2022 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas will be held from Tuesday 20 September until Thursday 22 September 2022 at the University of Leuven (Belgium). The general theme of the colloquium is:
In addition, papers are invited on any topic in the History of Linguistics and Linguistic Ideas and Practices. We also welcome proposals for panel discussions or thematic sessions.
Paper should be 20 minutes in length (+ 10 minutes of discussion). Proposals should be submitted to Luz Van den Bruel (luz.vandenbruel@kuleuven.be) by 31 March 2022 and should contain the following information: Name, institutional affiliation (if any), email address, and abstract (max. 250 words).
In addition, proposals for panels should include a 100-word statement from the panel organizer(s) giving the rationale for the panel.
Notification of acceptance will be made by 31 May 2022.
For further information about the Society, details of the Martin Burr travel bursary for graduate students and early career scholars, and updates on the colloquium, please visit the Henry Sweet Society website: http://www.henrysweet.org
For other inquiries, please contact the organizers:
Toon van Hal (toon.vanhal@kuleuven.be)
Floris Solleveld (floris.solleveld@kuleuven.be)
The University of Leuven is easily accessible by train (30 minutes from Brussels South, Eurostar terminus) and plane (15 minutes from Brussels Airport). We encourage that delegates travel by train when feasible. Also, we kindly invite you to distribute this call further within your network.