Background
Joseph, John E. was born on October 30, 1956 in Monroe, Michigan, United States. Arrived in Scotland, 1996. Son of John and Glenlyn Pauline (Creason) Joseph.
(The idea that some aspects of language are ‘natural’, whi...)
The idea that some aspects of language are ‘natural’, while others are arbitrary, artificial or derived, runs all through modern linguistics, from Chomsky’s GB theory and Minimalist program and his concept of E- and I-language, to Greenberg’s search for linguistic universals, Pinker’s views on regular and irregular morphology and the brain, and the markedness-based constraints of Optimality Theory. This book traces the heritage of this linguistic naturalism back to its locus classicus, Plato’s dialogue Cratylus. The first half of the book is a detailed examination of the linguistic arguments in the Cratylus. The second half follows three of the dialogue’s naturalistic themes through subsequent linguistic history ― natural grammar and conventional words, from Aristotle to Pinker; natural dialect and artificial language, from Varro to Chomsky; and invisible hierarchies, from Jakobson to Optimality Theory ― in search of a way forward beyond these seductive yet spurious and limiting dichotomies.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9027245851/?tag=2022091-20
(Landmarks in Linguistic Thought II introduces the major i...)
Landmarks in Linguistic Thought II introduces the major issues and themes that have determined the development of Western thinking about language, meaning and communication in the twentieth century. Each chapter contains an extract from a 'landmark' text followed by a commentary, which places the ideas in their social and intellectual context. The book is written in an accessible and non-technical manner. The book summarizes the contribution of the key thinkers who have shaped modern linguistics: Austin, Chomsky, Derrida, Firth, Goffman, Harris, Jakobson, Labov, Orwell, Sapir, Whorf and Wittgenstein. This second volume follows on from Landmarks in Linguistic Thought I, which introduces the key thinkers up to the twentieth century. The series is ideal for anyone with an interest in the history of linguistics or of ideas.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415063973/?tag=2022091-20
(What is ‘American’ about American linguistics? Is Jakobso...)
What is ‘American’ about American linguistics? Is Jakobson, who spent half his life in America, part of it? What became of Whitney’s genuinely American conception of language as a democracy? And how did developments in 20th-century American linguistics relate to broader cultural trends?This book brings together 15 years of research by John E. Joseph, including his discovery of the meeting between Whitney and Saussure, his ground-breaking work on the origins of the ‘Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis’ and of American sociolinguistics, and his seminal examination of Bloomfield and Chomsky as readers of Saussure. Among the original findings and arguments contained herein: • why ‘American structuralism’ does not end with Chomsky, but begins with him; • how Bloomfield managed to read Saussure as a behaviourist avant la lettre; • why in the long run Skinner has emerged victorious over Chomsky; • how Whorf was directly influenced by the mystical writings of Madame Blavatsky; • how the Whitney–Max Müller debates in the 19th century connect to the intellectual disparity between Chomsky’s linguistic and political writings.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1588113507/?tag=2022091-20
(Until recently, Indonesian, the national language of a va...)
Until recently, Indonesian, the national language of a vast, plural nation state, was spoken by very few of the Javanese who live in south-central Java. But the national language is now being learned, along with a national identity, and is the key vehicle for modernity and progress in these communities. Errington has written a fascinating account of the role of language in radical social transformation.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521634482/?tag=2022091-20
Joseph, John E. was born on October 30, 1956 in Monroe, Michigan, United States. Arrived in Scotland, 1996. Son of John and Glenlyn Pauline (Creason) Joseph.
Bachelor with honors, University Michigan, 1977. Master of Arts, University Michigan, 1978. Doctor of Philosophy, University Michigan, 1981.
Lecturer University Paul Valéry, Montpellier, France, 1980-1981. From assistant to associate professor Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, 1981-1985, University Maryland, College Park, 1986-1992. Professor University Hong Kong, 1993-1996, University Edinburgh, Scotland, since 1997.
Visiting associate professor University Maine, Orono, 1986.
(The idea that some aspects of language are ‘natural’, whi...)
(What is ‘American’ about American linguistics? Is Jakobso...)
(Landmarks in Linguistic Thought II introduces the major i...)
(Until recently, Indonesian, the national language of a va...)
Fellow Royal Society Arts. Member Philological Society (council member since 1997), Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas (council member since 1997).
Married Jeannette Pascale Muñoz, August 17, 1991. Children: Julian, Crispin, Maud.