etc.

Tom Givon TGIVON at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU
Tue Jan 7 20:49:26 UTC 1997


Dear George,
Thanks for your gracious response to my (rather) temperamental outburst.
It seems like we have zero disagreement. You don't believe that syntax
does not exist. I don't believe (never have, as you know) that syntax
is autonomous. That is, after all, a criterial feature for functionalists.
So if it was all a misunderstanding, let us kiss and make up. I do tend
to let my temper fly on occasion. I think you're absolutely right, the
most important thing is that people keep communicating and exchanging
ideas, As you know, I've benefited enormously from your work, and I
hope to continue to.
I think part of the problem is the creatin of "labeled" sub-cultures that
then tend to talk primarily to themselves. To my the label Cognitive
Linguistics/Grammar somehow connotes that the rest of us are not
cognitively oriented. This is what adjectives do, they tend to imply
restriction. As you may have noticed, I have always refrained from putting
a label on my work, or incorporating an official group. I continue to
believe that what I (and we...) do is just plain linguistics, the unmarked
case. I know this is not a politically popular attitude, but I find the
proliferation of "labeled" groups (the alphabet soup...) rather undig-
nified.
Thanks again for your graciousness, George. And Happy New Year. TG



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