Edwin Battistella
Encyclopedia
Edwin Battistella is an American linguist known for work on markedness, syntax, and language attitudes. He is a professor of Language, Literature & Philosophy at Southern Oregon University
in Ashland, Oregon
.
at the City University of New York Graduate School and University Center, receiving a Ph.D. in 1981. His dissertation, Topics in the Theory of Inflection, written under the direction of Robert Fiengo, developed the early theory of abstract case introduced in Noam Chomsky’s
1980 article “On Case Theory.” The dissertation proposed that many instances of grammatical agreement could be treated as the assignment of abstract case features from clauses to the categories they contained, making a distinction between inherent and assigned case features.
. Markedness: The Evaluative Superstructure of Language, was a study of the Prague School principle of structural asymmetry as developed by Nikolai Trubetzkoy and Roman Jakobson
. In Markedness, Battistella identified the diagnostics of marked and unmarked opposites in Jakobson’s work from the 1920s through the 1980s, proposed a comprehensive set of markedness values for English grammar and connected markedness to the idea of intrinsic hierarchy. In The Logic of Markedness, Battistella more explicitly developed the connections between Jakobson’s ideas and those of Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle, attempting to reconcile structuralist and generative views of markedness.
His two later books have focused on 19th and 20th century language attitudes. Bad Language: Are Some Words Better Than Others? published in 2005, develops the case for a linguistically informed view of usage rather one based on oversimplifications and folklore. Do You Make These Mistakes in English? The Story of Sherwin Cody’s Famous Language School, published in 2009, combined a biography of correspondence school entrepreneur Sherwin Cody
with an exploration of language and cultural attitudes that made self-improvement and correspondence learning educational forces in the first half of the twentieth century.
In addition, Professor Battistella is the author of a number of articles and book chapters on pronoun reference, the syntax of the English verb system, traditional grammar and style.
, and Wayne State College
in Nebraska. He has been at Southern Oregon University since 2000, serving as Dean of Arts and Letters from 2000 to 2006 and as Interim Provost from 2007 to 2008.
From 1995 to 2001, Battistella served as the first book review editor for Language, the journal of the Linguistic Society of America
.
In 2006 he became the editor of Wiley-Blackwell’s Linguistic Abstracts, succeeding D. Terence Langendoen, and he and Rochelle Lieber
became the founding editors-in-chief of Wiley-Blackwell's peer-reviewed online journal Language and Linguistics Compass
.
In 1986, he served as an expert witness for the American Civil Liberties Union
, in a Federal Court case in which a trucker challenged an Alabama state statute prohibiting the public display of “any bumper sticker, sign or writing which depicts obscene language descriptive of sexual or excretory activities."
Since 2009 Battistella has been on the board of directors of Oregon Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities
. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Oregon Encyclopedia, a peer-reviewed online state-encyclopedia established during Oregon’s sesquicentennial.
He has contributed entries on Damon Knight
, Kim Novak
, Les Schwab
, and Albert Kitzhaber, among others.
Southern Oregon University
is a public liberal arts college located in Ashland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1926, it was formerly known as Southern Oregon College and Southern Oregon State College . SOU offers criminology, natural sciences, including environmental science, Shakespearean studies and theatre arts programs...
in Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...
.
Background
Battistella studied linguisticsLinguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
at the City University of New York Graduate School and University Center, receiving a Ph.D. in 1981. His dissertation, Topics in the Theory of Inflection, written under the direction of Robert Fiengo, developed the early theory of abstract case introduced in Noam Chomsky’s
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
1980 article “On Case Theory.” The dissertation proposed that many instances of grammatical agreement could be treated as the assignment of abstract case features from clauses to the categories they contained, making a distinction between inherent and assigned case features.
Scholarly Contributions
Battistella is the author of two books on the theory of markednessMarkedness
Markedness is a specific kind of asymmetry relationship between elements of linguistic or conceptual structure. In a marked-unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one...
. Markedness: The Evaluative Superstructure of Language, was a study of the Prague School principle of structural asymmetry as developed by Nikolai Trubetzkoy and Roman Jakobson
Roman Jakobson
Roman Osipovich Jakobson was a Russian linguist and literary theorist.As a pioneer of the structural analysis of language, which became the dominant trend of twentieth-century linguistics, Jakobson was among the most influential linguists of the century...
. In Markedness, Battistella identified the diagnostics of marked and unmarked opposites in Jakobson’s work from the 1920s through the 1980s, proposed a comprehensive set of markedness values for English grammar and connected markedness to the idea of intrinsic hierarchy. In The Logic of Markedness, Battistella more explicitly developed the connections between Jakobson’s ideas and those of Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle, attempting to reconcile structuralist and generative views of markedness.
His two later books have focused on 19th and 20th century language attitudes. Bad Language: Are Some Words Better Than Others? published in 2005, develops the case for a linguistically informed view of usage rather one based on oversimplifications and folklore. Do You Make These Mistakes in English? The Story of Sherwin Cody’s Famous Language School, published in 2009, combined a biography of correspondence school entrepreneur Sherwin Cody
Sherwin Cody
Alpheus Sherwin Cody was an American writer and entrepreneur who developed a long-running home-study course in speaking and writing and a signature series of advertisements asking “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?”...
with an exploration of language and cultural attitudes that made self-improvement and correspondence learning educational forces in the first half of the twentieth century.
In addition, Professor Battistella is the author of a number of articles and book chapters on pronoun reference, the syntax of the English verb system, traditional grammar and style.
Professional Activities
Battistella has held teaching, administrative and research positions at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, the 1986 Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute, the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research CenterThomas J. Watson Research Center
The Thomas J. Watson Research Center is the headquarters for the IBM Research Division.The center is on three sites, with the main laboratory in Yorktown Heights, New York, 38 miles north of New York City, a building in Hawthorne, New York, and offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts.- Overview :The...
, and Wayne State College
Wayne State College
Wayne State College is a four-year public college in the Nebraska State College System in Wayne, Nebraska. The current enrollment is 3,571. The college opened as a State Normal School in 1910 after the State purchased the private Nebraska Normal College . The State Normal College became State...
in Nebraska. He has been at Southern Oregon University since 2000, serving as Dean of Arts and Letters from 2000 to 2006 and as Interim Provost from 2007 to 2008.
From 1995 to 2001, Battistella served as the first book review editor for Language, the journal of the Linguistic Society of America
Linguistic Society of America
The Linguistic Society of America is a professional society for linguists. It was founded in 1924 to advance linguistics, the scientific study of human language. The LSA has over 5,000 individual members and welcomes linguists of all kinds. It works to advance the discipline and to communicate...
.
In 2006 he became the editor of Wiley-Blackwell’s Linguistic Abstracts, succeeding D. Terence Langendoen, and he and Rochelle Lieber
Rochelle Lieber
Rochelle Lieber is Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire. She is a linguist known for her work in morphology, the syntax-morphology interface, and morphology and lexical semantics....
became the founding editors-in-chief of Wiley-Blackwell's peer-reviewed online journal Language and Linguistics Compass
Language and Linguistics Compass
Language and Linguistics Compass is an online peer-reviewed linguistics journal established by Blackwell Publishers in 2006. One of eight Compass journals, Language and Linguistics Compass publishes state-of-the-art reviews review articles aimed at an international readership...
.
In 1986, he served as an expert witness for the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, in a Federal Court case in which a trucker challenged an Alabama state statute prohibiting the public display of “any bumper sticker, sign or writing which depicts obscene language descriptive of sexual or excretory activities."
Since 2009 Battistella has been on the board of directors of Oregon Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Oregon Encyclopedia, a peer-reviewed online state-encyclopedia established during Oregon’s sesquicentennial.
He has contributed entries on Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
, Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
, Les Schwab
Les Schwab
Leslie Bishop "Les" Schwab was an American businessman from Oregon. He was the founder of Les Schwab Tire Centers, a company which Modern Tire Dealer called "arguably the most respected independent tire store chain in the United States." A native of Oregon, he served in the U.S...
, and Albert Kitzhaber, among others.
Books
- Battistella, Edwin. Do You Make These Mistakes in English? The Story of Sherwin Cody’s Famous Language School. Oxford University Press, 2008.
- Battistella, Edwin. Bad Language: Are Some words Better Than Others? Oxford University Press, 2005.
- Battistella, Edwin. The Logic of Markedness. Oxford University Press, 1996.
- Battistella, Edwin. Markedness: The Evaluative Superstructure of Language. State University of New York Press, 1990.