Landmarks in Linguistic Thought Volume II: The Western Tradition in the Twentieth Century

by John E. Joseph, Nigel Love, Talbot J Taylor

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.

Genres: Linguistics

280 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 2001

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent overview of major thinkers about language, mostly in the 20th century. Most academics unfamiliar with major trends in linguistics will find this useful. These "landmarks" have impacted how all scholars and academics do their work, not just in language studies. I also like that the authors take a broad disciplinary view of what constitutes "linguistic thought." It is not just those talking about morphemes, language acquisition devices, etc. All around, a very nice overview.