Regarding the importance of Linguistics

[Lesley-Neuman, D.F.]

One thing I have found shuffling between formal and functionalist
departments is that generative syntacticians have they view that what
they do IS linguistics, or, even SYNTAX, and don't know any different
themselves. I got a real chuckle out of a formal syntax class at another
institution in the States about a year or so back  when the instructor
said in class that grammaticalization was a new hot topic, that only a
very few syntacticians worked in it!  When I pointed out that almost
everybody who has been doing so generally IS a syntactician, especially
those who do language description with historical linguistics, but
simply do not work within the same theoretical framework, it was a kind
of revelation within that environment.  Formal programs consciously
repress other views within their programs and do such a complete job of
it that even many of their teaching staff don't have an idea of the
literature. This is why Shannon (who, by the way guys, is male) has been
so persistent on this list to get more information about functionalism.


Diane Lesley-Neuman
PhD Researcher
Leiden University Centre for Linguistics/
Languages and Cultures of Africa
Van Wijkplaats 4 Office 103A
2311 BX Leiden  The Netherlands
Email: d.f.lesley-neuman.2 at hum.leidenuniv.nl
Telephone: +31 71 527-1663