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Zellig Sabbettai HarrisAmerican linguist
Date of Birth: 23.10.1909
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Zellig Sabbettai Harris: A Pioneer in Linguistics
- Transition to General Linguistics and Structuralism
- Transformational Analysis and Chomsky's Influence
- Discourse Analysis and Later Research
- Legacy and Impact
Zellig Sabbettai Harris: A Pioneer in Linguistics
Formative Years and Semitic StudiesZellig Sabbettai Harris(October 23, 1909 – May 22, 1992) was born in the small Ukrainian town of Balta. His family emigrated to the United States when he was four years old. Harris established a lifelong connection with Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. He received his bachelor's degree in 1931, his master's three years later, and his doctorate immediately following. Harris pursued Semitic studies, focusing on the decipherment and interpretation of the Ugaritic texts from Ras Shamra. His doctoral dissertation, "A Grammar of the Phoenician Language" (1936), was highly praised by Edward Sapir. He also co-edited, with his mentor J. A. Montgomery, mythological texts from Ras Shamra and published "The Development of Canaanite Dialects: An Investigation in Linguistic History" (1939).
Transition to General Linguistics and Structuralism
In the 1940s, Harris's research interests shifted toward general linguistics, particularly the methodology of linguistic investigations. He considered himself a methodologist rather than a linguist. His groundbreaking work, "Methods in Structural Linguistics" (1951, later revised as "Structural Linguistics," 1960), aimed to establish a rigorous and comprehensive procedure for describing language structure without relying on semantics. Harris introduced innovative metalinguistic concepts that have become integral to linguistic analysis. Critics argue that Harris took L. Bloomfield's descriptivist ideas to an extreme, while defenders contend that he defined the limits of asemantic analysis and demonstrated the inseparable link between form and content in language. Towards the end of the book, Harris proposed the idea of transformational analysis, later developed in his article "Co-Occurrence and Transformation in Linguistic Structure" (1957).
Transformational Analysis and Chomsky's Influence
Harris's work in transformational analysis influenced Noam Chomsky, who developed the "standard model" of generative grammar. The extent to which Chomsky incorporated Harris's ideas remains a subject of debate. Harris himself showed little interest in the controversy.
Discourse Analysis and Later Research
In his article "Discourse Analysis" (1952), Harris introduced the concept of discourse analysis as a method for studying the flow of information in discourse. While modern discourse analysis has evolved significantly, Harris's authorship and foundational ideas are widely acknowledged. He continued to work on discourse analysis with collaborators, including his immunologist brother, and published the collective monograph "The Form of Information in Science: Analysis of an Immunology Sublanguage" (1989).
In the 1970s, Harris developed his own grammatical theory, "operator grammar," presented in "A Grammar of English on Mathematical Principles" (1982). His final years saw the publication of "Language and Information" (1988) and "A Theory of Language and Information" (1991), which provided a synthesis of his earlier work and were written in a more accessible style.
Legacy and Impact
Harris's later publications largely escaped the attention of the US linguistics establishment. However, several scholars believe that a reevaluation of his work is long overdue. Posthumously, in 1997, his book "The Transformation of Capitalist Society" was published, reflecting his political views. Several of Harris's writings, particularly in historical linguistics, remain unpublished. Despite the mixed reception of his later work, Harris remains a significant figure in the history of linguistics, known for his contributions to structuralism, discourse analysis, and transformational analysis.
