- Talmy Givón
Infobox Person
name = Talmy "Tom" Givón
birth_date =June 22, 1936
birth_place =Afula ,Israel
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Linguist
spouse =Talmy "Tom" Givón (born 1936) is a linguist and
educator and one of the founders of functionalism inlinguistics . He also founded thelinguistics department at theUniversity of Oregon based on his functionalist approach to the subject.He is currently Distinguished
Professor Emeritus ofLinguistics andCognitive Science at theUniversity of Oregon .Givón is also notable for
coining theaphorism that "Today's morphology is yesterday's syntax".Biography
His work covers many language areas (
Semitic ,African ,Amerindian ,Austronesian ,Papuan ,Sino-Tibetan , Indo-European), as well as many areas of theoretical linguistics(syntax ,semantics ,pragmatics ,second language acquisition ,pidgins & creoles,discourse &text linguistics ,methodology &philosophy of science ,philosophy of language ,typology &language universals ,grammaticalization &historical syntax ,cognitive science ,language evolution ).Education
Givón earned his
bachelor of science cum laude from theHebrew University of Jerusalem in 1959. AttendingUCLA , he received a master of science degree inhorticulture in 1962, a C.Phil in PlantBiochemistry in 1963. He also received twolinguistics degrees fromUCLA : a master of arts in 1966, and aPhD in 1969. Givón also received a TESL certificate in 1965 fromUCLA .Experience
Givón started his professional career in 1966 with an appointment as a
research assistant in Mathematical Linguistics at the Center for Research in Languages & Linguistics,UCLA and was aresearch associate working on the Lexicography Project atSystem Development Corporation inSanta Monica, CA .Bibliography
Givón's published books include:
*"The Travels of Benjamins Adam", (a novel;1966 )
*"Studies in Chi-Bemba and Bantu Grammar", (1973 )
*"On Understanding Grammar", (1979 )
*"Ute Dictionary", (1979 )
*"Ute Reference Grammar", (1980 )
*"Topic Continuity in Discourse", (1983 )
*"Syntax: A Functional-Typological Introduction", (vol. I,1984 ; vol. II1990 )
*"Ute Traditional Narratives", (1985 )
*"Mind, Code, and Context: Essays in Pragmatics", (1989 )
*"English Grammar", (2 vols;1993 )
*"Functionalism and Grammar", (1995 )
*"Running Through the Tall Grass", (a novel;1997 )
*"Syntax: An Introduction", (2 vols,2001 )
*"Bio-Linguistics", (2002 )
*"Context as Other Minds", (2005 )Givón's current linguistic project is "The Genesis of Complex Syntax: Diachrony, Ontogeny, Cognition, Evolution." His current literary projects include the yet-to-be-published novels "Seadock," "Sasquatch" and "Downfall of a Jesuit."
Personal life
Givón raises horses on a ranch on the
Southern Ute Indian Reservation nearIgnacio, Colorado .He plays lead
fiddle in The Cat Creek Band (Ol' Time,Blues ,Country ,Ragtime ).
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.