zellig harris last thursday night may 21 zellig harris died sleep pleasant working day 88 years old born 1904 byelorussia told chose name zellig sabbettai family immigrated united states four like think semantics happiness steadfastness mind certainly keynotes life would guess parents chose name harris died finishing book politics planning life 1992 publication book _ theory language information _ oxford wrapped life work language least time seems felt liberty take unfinished business understand paul mattick jr harris friend neighbor many years new york last book describes get capitalism socialism surely conventional take either capitalism socialism harris anarchist oxford interested publishing also talked cambridge memorial planned beyond something private family however discussion beginning public meeting scientific content would hope festschrift haj ross called lsa meetings years ago might last come harris described methodologist rather linguist could misleading always said work part linguistics institutionally defined linguists would interested work though people interested language would nonetheless surely linguist operational definitions one might come done extensive fieldwork variety language final revision 1992 oxford book undertook test theory language every language control 44 languages spent months reading grammars morning night evaluating whether theory reasonable account found clear scientific conclusions warranted particular notice check given book wanted feel reasonably secure conclusions idiosyncratic english french german korean languages primary bases development pleased results contributions field numerous weighty founded first linguistics department u introduced algebraic representations abstract mathematical treatment become much norms field difficult appreciate much kicking screaming protests peers invented x bar notation immediate constituent analysis though course name cope well known weakness ic analysis headof relation developed ways accomodate discontinuous morphemes grammatical analysis charted way difficulties experienced bloch others phonology saying contrast rather phonetic identity basis setting phonemes ghost risen haunt generative phonology invented string analysis complement rival immediate constituent analysis complementarity respect headof problem basis joshi tree adjoining grammars tags invented transformational analysis context developing discourse analysis get information content texts contributions await recognition exploitation field linguistics institutionalized today fields obvious examples include sublanguage analysis sublanguage grammar operator grammar based word dependency discourse analysis information content theory information account central aspect semantics example string grammar natural extension transformational grammar basis successful work naomi sager others nyu information formatting sublanguage texts applied mainly medical informatics stephen johnson implemented system representing information content texts based operator grammar successes sort little noticed within linguistics characteristic harris vanity self importance knew work lasting importance treated guru empire builder seeking followers would accept role projected onto students sought entree linguistics social institution academia bound disappointed however could scarcely blamed disappointment provide entree pretend hearing actively discouraged students imagined work would ambitions field role ta john fought prepared lecture harris approach syntax semantics setting lecture hall encountered harris blurted give lecture theory john class john characteristic wry humor asked wanted take anything back harris bemusedly questioned whether anyone would interested nonetheless gave public lecture two structures language report paraphrase 1969 1970 large auditorium think furness building filled capacity critique john corcoran published later volume _ transformationelle analyse _ edited senta ploetz also well attended broad attendance acclaim work could easily chosen simply ambitions lay clue basis choice fame influence may perhaps found advice student starting first teaching position many years ago nt invite anybody dinner said nt accept invitations get involved social life academic wont able get work done work came first harris always intensely loyal man friends family consequences combined laissezfaire anarchism always happy friend close colleague many years henry hiz much concerned building formal linguistics program institution disparity character could devastating students studied harris 1966 1970 undergraduate much time matter sinkor swim approach like attributed sapir darnell 1990 except seminars course focussed theory rather data say athabaskan would come seminar start talking working started work resulted 1968 book _ mathematical structures language _ wiley process lecture monologue continuing conversation students trying alternatives posing working problems mathematical characterization language intensive reading outside one began catch participate recall telling end one seminar meeting first year would try disprove theory troubled bit worked problem modern greek thought might troublesome approach lived greece couple years spoke language worked informant project results turned actually corroborate point intended challenge merely thanked data greek year two later come proposal analyze definitions dictionary extract semantic primitives form componential analysis much martha evens others done although notion semantic features seems inimical concept method work said exact quote others tried failed welcome try offer refutation sometimes heard view harris dictatorial ran conflicts matters hiz never harris also heard asked never retorted attacks work think matter expect methods results understood taken everyone field linguistics maybe attitude differed 1940s wrote structural restatements manuscript eventually published _ methods structural linguistics _ btw title said descriptive publisher substituted buzzword structural recall saying amusedly nt remember whether asked maybe expectations field changed chomsky followers began making bad guy nt think based writings testimony students never heard comment commonplace attribution chomsky discovery transformational grammar transformational revolution passage _ state art _ 1968 hockett attributes harris nothing long silence 1957 showing ignorance things like string analysis might excused even ignoring 1965 paper transformational theory prominently published _ language _ showed passage harris shrugged matter particular never saw evidence harris opposed blocked chomsky ambitions experience would entirely character example harris proposed chomsky speak stead 1962 international congress similar canard regarding bernard bloch recently laid rest editorial language one must think alert social psychology leads people rewrite history avatar depicted embattled hero old indian friend told one point finger without three fingers hand pointing back hasten add picture intend paint harris accomplished intended quite well thank much seems quite happy process point precisely seemed way embattled attacks uncomprehending misconstruals work uncomprehending misconstruals abound frawley review _ grammar english mathematical principles _ gemp good example identifies harris operator grammar predicate calculus though harris pains delineate critical differences language fortiori operator grammar languagelike mathematical systems including predicate calculus frawley see comprehensive grammar attempt 1960s generative grammar 1980 unable step generativist paradigm understand harris work terms another review eric wheeler 1984 _ computers humanities _ asserted harris grammar unable account certain familiar semantic problems middle voice semantics find vs seek quantifier scope examples like someone opposed everyone review _ computational linguistics _ 1984 showed harris fact account problems book michael kac review harris selected writings asked bother indeed within generativist paradigm must plausible question setting aside paradigmatic blinkers one see writings one place consistent self coherent harris program years transformational grammar revolutionary break part continuous evolution mention one misconception harris work way fundamental commonplace probably greeted disbelief say discovery procedures aim jim mccawley witticism harris discovery procedures collection traditionally circulated may really reverses roles teller butt joke hard see linguists come mistaken belief discovery procedures abiding fixture linguistics institutionally defined _ methods _ published linguists sought aid fieldwork writing linguistic descriptions discovery procedures institutionalized whipping boy colored perceptions harris intentions results harris certainly interest value redundancy one level linguistic representation could used practical way determine boundaries objects next corroborative byproduct aim constructional procedure described 1955 paper phoneme morpheme implemented fortran early 1960s proven work ralph grishman preliminary success implementing programs discover word classes rules sublanguage grammar sublanguage texts general harris think discovery procedures feasible particular told thought grammatical analysis could done solely corpus asking informants one control language oneself one work data tease pattern wrestle coherent form lengthy demanding process probably us know experience much popularized image feeding corpus turning crank grammar reel end introduction _ methods structural linguistics _ harris states clearly methods discovery procedures accepts one uses many means come proposals describing going language hunches guesses heuristic rules thumb typological generalizations proposed universals comparison related languages earlier stages language art science rather art engineering harris acutely aware danger swamping one control language growing familiarity marginal examples language social institution continuously change constantly recreated crucible use aim methods substitute informal ways coming possible analyses verify given result whether result valid relation data language actually read book many said fact said nt really mean nothing else harris always careful say exactly meant concern verification arises deeper concern becomes explicit harris later work critical point linguistics science standpoint external science domain metascience particular practitioners physics chemistry even mathematics rely background vernacular language ensure communication shared meanings ultimately validate relation conclusions however reached observations based science language harris recognized accepted vantage point outside language describe language observably language contains metalanguage repeat think key understanding harris easy overlook importance vantage point outside language describe language contrast generativist theory postulates universal metalanguage external language part one biological endowment personally find biologicist neophrenologist doctrine mental organs credible issue rests opinion facts yet determined stance seems perfectly consonant argument made stephen anderson phonology nt natural one derive linguistic structure findings study bearing metascience relation linguistics harris interested language carry transmit information thread underlies really remarkable consistency work 50 years intuitively know differences form correlate differences meaning correlation messy inconsistent observed data language say body writings phonemic transcriptions including whatever utterances investigator may come ad hoc search examples harris found messy inconsistent stream words product two concurrent systems system word dependencies correlates perceptions subjectmatter domain science subfield system reductions changes word shapes often zero motivated part issues redundancy efficiency part historically contingent social convention reductions introduce degeneracies ambiguity paraphrase otherwise obscure correlation form meaning without destroying correlation given structure differences form correlates meaning critical importance machinery description import structure extraneous found language harris endeavor always determine least grammar description required absolute minimum primitive objects relations additional objects relations description introduce extrinsic structure obscures informational structure language could basis telling critique various theories language harris chose make critique asked certain aspects generativist theory would comment evidence mild amusement seem overstructured like teacher sapir harris interest problems international communication international auxiliary language paper appeared 1962 volume avoiding world war iii remember wwiii everyone like sapir bloomfield particular long standing interest international cooperation communication science culminated _ form information science analysis immunology sublanguage _ michael gottfried tom ryckman others 1989 john benjamins book describes grammar sublanguage immunology specific period development field based discourse analysis sublanguage texts period adequate making explicit information structures arbitrary texts sublanguage analysis shows structure sublanguage changed concurrently change immunologists perceptions domain science difference informational structure correlates difference meaning informational structures clearly represented binary array resulting discourse analysis still present actual form source texts written albeit obscured reductions word shape motivated considerations informational efficiency avoidance redundancy dictated conventions language use human social institution harris arranged life enhance autonomy work understand kibbutz israel wealthy one members give assets income turn supports needs believe kibbutz purchased apartment building charles street retirement held endowed chair penn benjamin franklin professorship linguistics principal investigator long series grants nsf nimh agencies whose committees referees found work continuing value throughout life involved scientists science wife physicist university jerusalem albert einstein assistant princeton brother immunologist author work analyzed 1989 book felt rough tumble polemic attack retort inappropriate science would participate would distraction work one bampton lectures columbia 1986 young member audience approached asked would take another lifetime mentioned poetry especially longer works 19th century poets like browning mentioned music mentioned sign language long productive life brought life work successful culmination completion book politics imagine death coming chess playing knight seventh seal saying ok ready privilege know learn abiding inspiration bruce nevin bn bbn com