Dear Mr President, Berlin, 26
Sept 2012
although, as you know and many others of our generation, it was
yours truly who came up with the idea of having a History of Linguistics
Society established in Britain. For the benefit of the younger
generations, I append a paper that I drafted in late 1997, and of which
a shortened version appeared as "Wie es eigentlich gewesen ... or, Notes
concerning the pre-history of the Henry Sweet Society", /Bulletin of the
Henry Sweet Society/30.14-18 (May 1998), with whichVivian Salmons'
commentary, "A Note on the Origins of the Henry Sweet Society", ibid.,
19-20, should be compared.
I was not party to the actual founding meeting of the Society in
Spring 1984, and so I had no input on the choice of its name and the
arguments that had been brought forward in its favour. However, if you
read my account, you will find that I find myself in agreement with
various HSS members, who expressed themselves in favour of "... the
History of Linguistics". Both "linguistic ideas" and -- here I find
myself in agreement with Professor Walmesley -- "Language and History"
remind me of, pardon, 'soft-science', where I believe that we have come
a long way during the past 40 years to establish the History of
Linguistics as a serious, well-established, and internationally
recognized field of scholarly endeavour.
Respectfully submitted,
Konrad aka E.F.K. Koerner
On 24.09.12 12:02, Mike MacMahon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear HSS Member
> At a committee meeting earlier this year, the question was raised
> about the name of the Society, especially in connection with the need
> to attract new members. The full name is The Henry Sweet Society for
> the History of Linguistic Ideas, and has been used since the
> foundation of the Society in 1984.
>
> The committee would like to gather the views and suggestions of the
> membership about whether there is a case for either choosing a
> different name, fine-tuning the present name, or leaving things as
> they are. The simplest way is for you to send me an email (
> [log in to unmask] ) and I will put your comment(s) to the
> committee at its next meeting -- probably in November.
>
> Here are a few thoughts to start things off:
>
> * Is the current name too long(winded)?
> * Could it be giving the impression to 'outsiders' that the focus
> is on Sweet to the apparent exclusion of other equally important
> linguists?
> * Is the expression 'linguistic ideas' an appropriate one to have
> in the title?
> * Is the mention of Sweet transparent for a younger generation of
> linguists?
> * Should the world-wide scope of the membership and their
> interests be emphasized by choosing a name that reflects better
> the interests of the membership? Some people might say that the
> word 'British' should appear in the title; others that there is
> no need to mention the administrative base of the Society. A
> parallel is the re-titling of the journal in 2009 to simply
> 'Language & History'.
>
>
> I look forward to receiving any comments from you.
>
> With best wishes
>
> Mike MacMahon
>
> (President, Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas
> University of Glasgow
> Scotland/UK)
____________________________________________________________
Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. E. F. K. Koerner, Ph.D., FRSC
(Emeritus Professor of General Linguistics, University of Ottawa)
Research Associate, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS)
Schützenstr. 18, D-10117 BERLIN, Germany; Fax: +49(0)30 4849 4226
Scientific Editor, /Historiographia Linguistica/and "Amsterdam
Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science"
(Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co.)
