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The Emergence of the Modern Language Sciences
Studies on the transition from historical-comparative to structural linguistics in honour of E.F.K. Koerner
Volume 1: Historiographical perspectives
Although it is widely thought that structural linguistics began abruptly with the publication of Saussure's 'revolutionary' Course in General Linguistics, the work of E. F. K. Koerner has demonstrated that Saussure, for all his originality, remained true to the basic tenets of his 19th-century predecessors. In this volume, the development of modern linguistics before, during and after Saussure is traced in 20 studies honouring the scholar who has done more than anyone else to professionalize linguistic historiography during the last quarter century. Among the wide range of topics covered are: grammar and philosophy in the age of comparativism, the relation of Saussure's anagram studies to his theory of the linguistic sign, nationalist overtones in German linguistics from 1914 to 1945, and the true story (with newly discovered documentation) of why Chomsky's Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory didn't get published during the 1950s or 60s. In addition to an introductory overview of Koerner's career and a complete listing of his publications, the volume includes previously unpublished materials from Saussure's notebooks.
[Not in series, EMLS 1] 1999. lvi, 310 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 21 October 2008
Published online on 21 October 2008
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
- Introduction: Problems of structuralist beginnings (and endings)Sheila Embleton, John E. Joseph and Hans-Josef Niederehe | p. ix
- I. Before Saussure
- 1. Grammar and Philosophy in the Age of ComparativismLia Formigari | p. 3
- 2. In the Shadow of the Language GardenJan Noordegraaf | p. 13
- 3. Lafaye’s Dictionnaire des synonymes in the History of SemanticsGerda Haßler | p. 27
- 4. Samual Kleinschmidt as SyntacticianD. Gary Miller | p. 41
- 5. Dufriche-Desgenettes and the Birth of the PhonemeJohn E. Joseph | p. 55
- 6. Sound Physiology in the Making: On the role of Henry Sweet (1845–1912) and Eduard Sievers (1850–1932) in the development of linguistic scienceKurt R. Jankowsky | p. 77
- 7. First Language Acquisition and the Ontogenetic Development of Self-Consciousness in the Work of Ivan GeorgovMaxim I. Stamenov | p. 93
- II. Saussure
- 8. ‘The People’ and their Language in 19th-Century French Linguistic ThoughDouglas A. Kibbee | p. 111
- 9. A Glance at the History of Linguistics: Saussure and historical-comparativismGeorge Wolf | p. 129
- 10. Ferdinand de Saussure: The anagrams and the CoursW. Terrence Gordon and Henry G. Schogt | p. 139
- 11. Identity, Similarity, and Continuity: Saussure’s and Wittgenstein’s searh for linguistic unitsBrigitte Nerlich | p. 151
- 12. Notes on Saussure’s Old Irish CopybookAnders Ahlqvist | p. 169
- 13. Ferdinand de Saussure en BulgarieJivco Boyadjiev | p. 187
- III. After Saussure
- 14. La concepción del cambio fonético de Ramón Menéndez PidalEmilio Ridruejo | p. 201
- 15. “Das Glockenspiel des Ablauts”: National tones in German linguistic publications between 1914 and 1945Werner Hüllen | p. 219
- 16. Linguistic Theory in Historical Perspective: A study of J.R. Firth’s The Tongues of MenJoseph L. Subbiondo | p. 237
- 17. Between Structure and History: The search for the specificity and the originality of Brazilian linguistic productionCristina Altman | p. 247
- 18. How The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory Didn’t Get Published During the 1950s and 60sStephen O. Murray | p. 261
- 19. How the Anti-Mentalistic Skeletons in Chomsky’s Closet Make Psychological Fictions of his GrammarsDanny D. Steinberg | p. 267
- 20. The Origins of Modern Japanese Psycholinguistics within the Japanese Psychological TraditionJoseph F. Kess and Tadao Miyamoto | p. 283
- Koerner Tabula Gratulatoria | pp. 295–296
- Name Index | pp. 297–302
- Subject Index | pp. 303–308
- Contents of Volume Two | pp. 309–310
“Those desiring an international sampling of current studies on the history of linguistics for the nineteenthand twentieth centuries should consult these well-edited volumes.”
Julia S. Falk in Language
“There is so much more of interest in these volumes, all worthy of careful reading and consideration.”
Paul Sidwell, Australian National University, Australia
“These two volumes honor a scholar, editor and organizer whose work during the past 30 years has a unique impact on the field of linguistics in general and on the development and establishment of the history of the language sciences as a field of study in its own rights.
[...] some authors have achieved a 'Koernerian fusion' by incorporating the history of their fields in their respective arguments in historical linguistics, thereby demonstrating the value, importance and relevance of the history of the language sciences to contemporary issues in linguistics
”Michael Mackert, German-English Language Services
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Longobardi, Giuseppe, Cristina Guardiano, Giuseppina Silvestri, Alessio Boattini & Andrea Ceolin
2015. Toward a syntactic phylogeny of modern Indo-European languages. In Proto-Indo-European Syntax and its Development [Benjamins Current Topics, 75], ► pp. 125 ff.
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