Penelope Eckert and Leonard Bloomfield: An Overview (PDF)

Renowned sociolinguist Penelope Eckert is well-known for her research on language, gender, and social identity. She was born on 1942. With a foundation in anthropology and linguistics, Eckert has made substantial contributions to the field of sociolinguistics by studying how language shapes and refl...

Renowned sociolinguist Penelope Eckert is well-known for her research on language, gender, and social identity. She was born on 1942. With a foundation in anthropology and linguistics, Eckert has made substantial contributions to the field of sociolinguistics by studying how language shapes and reflects social identity, especially in the context of adolescence. The \"Jocks and Burnouts\" study, which examined high school students\' social categories and how their language use reflects their social connections, is one of her most important contributions. Eckert is renowned for her contributions to the \"indexicality\" theory, which investigates how particular linguistic elements index, or point to, social meanings. All things considered, Penelope Eckert\'s views highlight the interaction of language, identity, and social structures, especially with regard to gender and adolescence. Modern sociolinguistic theory and research on language variety and change have been greatly influenced by her work. Penelope Eckert\'s contributions to linguistics can be explored in depth through several key areas: Variationist Sociolinguistics Eckert is a leading figure in variationist sociolinguistics, emphasizing how language reflects social identities. Her work illustrates that linguistic variation is more closely linked to communities of practice than to demographic categories like class or ethnicity. Communities of Practice She expanded on the concept of communities of practice, which refers to groups that share common interests and practices. Eckert\'s research shows how language use within these communities shapes identities and social dynamics, particularly among adolescents. Gender and Language Eckert has significantly advanced the study of language and gender, arguing that understanding gender requires consideration of various contextual factors. Her collaborative work, Language and Gender, explores how linguistic features reflect and construct gender identities within social contexts. The Three Waves of Sociolinguistics Eckert articulated the Three Waves framework in sociolinguistics: First Wave: Focused on demographic patterns in language use. Second Wave: Emphasized ethnographic studies of local language dynamics. Third Wave: Concentrated on the social meaning of linguistic variation, highlighting individual agency and stylistic practices. These contributions have reshaped the understanding of linguistic variation, identity, and social interaction in contemporary linguistics. Penelope Eckert was once suffered and dealt with the notorious impostor syndrome. She also proved on how a rookie linguist can become a respected one. Let\'s get to know about\... Leonard Bloomfield was a prominent American linguist born on April 1, 1887, in Chicago, Illinois. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in American linguistics during the 20th century. He studied German and Sanskrit at the University of Chicago, pursued graduate studies at the University of Illinois, and later at the University of Freiburg in Germany. He held teaching positions at various prestigious universities, including the University of Illinois, Ohio State University, and Yale University, where he was a Sterling Professor of Linguistics from 1940 until his death in 1949. Bloomfield worked as an Assistant Ethnologist during the summer of 1925, conducting linguistic fieldwork on Plains Cree in Canada. He was one of the founding members of the Linguistic Society of America and was its President in 1935. 1\. Structuralism: Bloomfield believed language is a structured system of elements, focusing on the formal properties of language rather than meaning. 2\. Behaviorism: Influenced by behaviorism, he emphasized observable aspects of language, like sounds and their meanings, rather than mental processes. 3\. Descriptivism: He advocated for a descriptive approach to linguistics, focusing on the detailed analysis of specific languages rather than making broad generalizations. 4\. Methodological Rigor: Bloomfield pushed for the use of rigorous scientific methods in linguistic research to establish linguistics as a scientific discipline. His most important work was the book Language (1933), which solidified his reputation in structural linguistics and introduced the behaviorist approach to language study. He made significant contributions to Indo-European historical linguistics and comparative work on languages like Sanskrit and Old English. He extensively studied the Algonquian language family, and his work in this area remains foundational. He contributed to the study of Malayo-Polynesian languages, specifically Tagalog. Bloomfield's involvement in the establishment of the Linguistic Society of America and his leadership in the field during the mid-20th century helped to shape American linguistics. He mastered a wide range of languages. Bloomfield's doctoral dissertation was on Germanic historical linguistics, which he completed in 1909 at the University of Chicago. He worked in various academic institutions, including the University of Cincinnati, University of Illinois, Ohio State University, University of Chicago, and Yale University. His fieldwork in Canada on Plains Cree contributed to his empirical studies in linguistics. He was instrumental in organizing the foundation of the Linguistic Society of America and served as its President in 1935. His book Language became a crucial reference for linguistic specialists. Noam chomsky A Journey Through the Mind of a Liguistic Revolutionary Theories of language and language acquisition Content In this session, we will be discussing the following: Life Background of Noam Chomsky Chomsky's Theory of Language Acquisition His major contributions Life Trivias about Noam Chomsky Noam Chomsky is an eminent American theoretical linguist, cognitive scientist and philosopher, who radically changed the arena of linguistics by assuming language as a uniquely human, biologically based cognitive capacity. Born in Philadelphia on December 7, 1928, Avram Noam Chomsky was a brilliant child who was later called an intellectual prodigy. Both his parents were prominent Hebrew scholars. His mother, Elsie, was active in the radical politics of the 1930s. His father, William, a Russian Jewish immigrant like his mother, was a respected professor of Hebrew at Gratz College, an institution for teacher's training. Although their family was middle class, Chomsky witnessed injustices all around him. Life Background Theories of language and language acquisition At age 10, while attending a progressive school that emphasized student self-actualization, Noam wrote an editorial on the rise of fascism in Europe after the Spanish Civil War for his school newspaper. Chomsky began his studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Chomsky produced an enormous volume of work in linguistics, beginning with the 1957 publication of Syntactic Structures. Life Background Theories of language and language acquisition Noam Chomsky developed the language acquisition theory in order to explain this phenomenon. According to Chomsky, the ability to learn languages is an innate skill. Children are born with a language learning tool that he called a language acquisition device. A language acquisition device is a theoretical tool. It is used to explain how children learn and understand language quickly. THEORIES BY CHOMSKY Theories of language and language acquisition The language acquisition device (LAD) is a general term used to explain the many complex processes the brain has for learning languages. Compared to other species, humans have developed a complex language with structure and rules. THEORIES BY CHOMSKY Theories of language and language acquisition The language acquisition device can formally be defined as a hypothetical tool that helps children quickly learn and understand language. According to this theory, language was not learned by humans accidentally. We evolved to better create and understand language. Certain systems and structures were formed in the human brain overtime to aid in the acquisition of language. As a result, children are born with the skills and tools necessary to learn a language. They just need to learn vocabulary, and will naturally develop an understanding of grammar. THEORIES BY CHOMSKY Theories of language and language acquisition While language acquisition theory is still influential on the field of linguistics, Chomsky has moved forward with an updated theory he calls universal grammar. Universal grammar builds on the ideas of the existence of the LAD. It basically argues that universal rules of grammar can be recognized in languages around the world, which humans can recognize. THEORIES BY CHOMSKY Theories of language and language acquisition Noam Chomsky made many important contributions in areas like language studies, politics, and how we understand the mind. One of his most famous ideas is transformational-generative grammar, which he introduced in his book Syntactic Structures (1957). HIS MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS Theories of language and language acquisition Chomsky is credited with revolutionizing the linguistics field by introducing the Chomsky hierarchy, generative grammar and the concept of a universal grammar, (the human brain contains an innate mental grammar that helps humans acquire language) which underlies all human speech and is based in the innate structure of the mind/brain. HIS MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS Theories of language and language acquisition He formulated the algorithm \"context-free grammar,\" which is part of most computer programming languages, as well as programs that appear to understand language, such as Siri. HIS MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS Theories of language and language acquisition He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. His ideas continue to shape our understanding of language and human cognition. LIFE TRIVIAS Theories of language and language acquisition He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chomsky spent over 70 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2023, Chomsky suffered a massive stroke and was flown to a hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, to recuperate. LIFE TRIVIAS Theories of language and language acquisition He reads four or five newspapers daily; in the U.S., he subscribes to The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The Christian Science Monitor. Chomsky is often referred to as the \"father of modern linguistics.\" His theory of generative grammar revolutionized the study of language. Ferdinand Mongin de Saussure was born on November 16, 1857 in Geneva. \- His family belonged to the aristocratic elite. \- Ancestral roots of the de Saussure family can be traced back to the east of France, from where they emigrated and settled in Switzerland in the sixteenth century. \- Saussure\'s family had fostered a tradition of scientific scholarship for generations, and Saussure was himself a bright student of remarkable intelligence. \- After completing his secondary education at 17, Saussure taught himself Sanskrit by reading books on Sanskrit grammar written by the German linguist Franz Bopp (1791--1867). He enthusiastically pursued the study of languages. Saussure became a member of the Linguistic Society of Paris at a very young age. \- In 1876 he went to the University of Leipzig, where he received a doctorate in 1881. While a student there he published the Mémoire sur le système primitif des voyelles dans les langues indo-européennes (1879), which radically reimagined how the original Indo-European vowel system might be reconstructed. \- During the 1880s Saussure was lecturer in Gothic and Old High German at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, and he served as adjunct secretary of the Société de Linguistique de Paris and was responsible for the Société's publications in which a number of his own papers appeared. He also began, but abandoned, several more ambitious projects. \- In 1891 he returned to Geneva to take up a chair in Sanskrit and comparative Indo-European philology. \- He began another project on the "double essence" of language that was never completed. His papers on Lithuanian accentuation from this period would earn recognition for "Saussure's Law," which applies to historical accent shifts in a particular category of Lithuanian words. \- The next decade saw him devote his attention to various topics, including local toponyms around Geneva, legends of the Germanic peoples who had settled in the area, and finally the search for anagrams in Greek and Latin poetry, but no publications resulted. \- In 1907 he was given responsibility for the university's course in general linguistics, a course meant for students who lacked sufficient grounding in any ancient or medieval language, and began teaching it while doing an in-depth textual study. \- Saussure had no experience in teaching a course in general linguistics, nor indeed had he ever taken one. Restructuring the course each of the three times he gave it, he brought in sign theory and other aspects of the grammaire générale tradition in which he himself had been taught (see John E. Joseph, Saussure \[Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012\]) but that linguists had laid aside and forgotten in the intervening decades. \- The first published work on Saussure\'s life did not come out until 2008. Until then, little was known about his life other than snippets of biographical information from his books and other documents. \- Saussure died at the age of 55 in February 22, 1913 in Switzerland. Saussure was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century.