habitually probing generalist

Sunday, 30 Dec – Tuesday, 1 Jan

Toolan, Michael J. 1996. Total Speech: An Integrational Linguistic Approach to Language. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press.

• Finished Ch. 4: Further Principles of Integrational Linguistics, or, On Not Losing Sight of the Language User

Monday, 31 Dec 2007 New Years’ Eve

Harris, Roy. 2005. The Semantics of Science. London: Continuum.

Got this for Christmas from my lovely sister and brother-in-law. Took it with me this morning and began re-reading it waiting for a haircut.

This is the one work by Harris that Hjørland cites.

Wednesday, 2 Jan

Harris, Roy. 1977. On the Possibility of Linguistic Change. Oxford [Eng.]: Clarendon Press.

Mentioned in the previous post.

Thursday – Friday, 3 – 4 Jan

Taylor, Talbot J. 1990a. Normativity and Linguistic Form. In Redefining Linguistics, 118-148. New York: Routledge.

Re-read this. Quite a good argument for the centrality of “[a]gency, normativity, responsibility, authority, voluntariness, and correctness … in a redefined study of linguistic form” (148).

Friday, 4 Jan

Taylor, Talbot J. 1990b. Review of The Politics of Linguistics. Language 66:159-162. (JSTOR, accessed December 4, 2008).

Saturday, 5 Jan

Harris, Roy. 1983. Language and Speech. In Approaches to Language. 1983. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Succinctly and convincingly illuminates the distinction between language and speech. Comments on the impact of writing on this distinction, of which he actually finds 4 distinctions: physiological, semiotic, executive and sociological.

So we have in English, unfortunately, only two terms in common use, language and speech, to cover four importantly different distinctions which relate to one facet of the logoid activities of Homo sapiens. This would be bad enough as a source of potential confusion, but it is made worse by the fact that modern theorists have themselves often failed to recognize the importance of these distinctions, and consequently have introduced terminology of their own which cuts across them (7).

Well, it seems one of my predictions for this feature within my blog is coming true. Of course, it was such an easy prediction. I am not reading a lot at the moment as I should mostly be writing, and re-reading so that I can write better, hopefully. Shouldn’t be much new reading and all re-readings do not need to be mentioned. If I have something new or more to say, then fine.

I have ordered 4 more “Harris” books in the last few days, though.