Takao Suzuki (sociolinguist)

Takao Suzuki (鈴木孝夫 "Suzuki Takao" in Japanese) is a Japanese sociolinguist, born in Tokyo in 1926. He is the author of "ことばと文化," translated into English as "Words in Context".

Suzuki argues that:
* Sociolinguists do not pay enough attention to the subtle differences between word usage in different cultures.
* Japanese linguists have traditionally been too occupied with Western linguistic categories, which are less than effective in studying Japanese.

Bibliography

* (translated in English)
** "Words in Context" (ことばと文化, 1973)
* (not translated in English, literal titles)
** 日本語と外国語 ("Japanese Language, Foreign Language", 1990)
** 日本語は国際語になりうるか ("Can Japanese Become An International Language?", 1995)
** 教養としての言語学 ("Educational Linguistics", 1996)
** 日本人はなぜ英語ができないか ("Why Japanese Are Bad at English", 1999)
** 人にはどれだけの物が必要か ("How Many Things Does A Man Need?", 1999)
** 英語はいらない？ ("No Need For English?", 2000)
** 日本・日本語・日本人 ("Japan, Its Language and the People", 2001)
** 日本人はなぜ日本を愛せないのか ("Why Japanese Cannot Be Patriotic", 2005)
* (English works)
** "A semantic analysis of present-day Japanese with particular reference to the role of Chinese characters" (1963)
** "Reflections on Japanese language and culture" (1987)

External links

[http://www.posi.net/translation/Role_Definition_and_Unification.pdf Side-by-side English Translation of 役割の固定化と一元化 ("Role Definition and Unification") from ことばと文化]