Dates in the Month of May that Are of Interest to Linguists
Happy May! May, as you surely know, is an important season of celebration for linguists. Some of my favorite items are below.
From Dates in the Month of May that Are of Interest to Linguists by the late James D. McCawley:
May 6, 1939. The University of Chicago trades Leonard Bloomfield to Yale University for two janitors and an undisclosed number of concrete gargoyles.
May 23, 38,471 B.C. God creates language.
May 29, 1962. Angular brackets are discovered. Classes at M.I.T. are dismissed and much Latvian plum brandy is consumed.
May 31, 1951. Chomsky discovers Affix-hopping and is reprimanded by his father for discovering rules on shabas.
Unfortunately May 31, 1951 was a Thursday…
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Tags: humor, linguistics, May, McCawley, University of Chicago
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May 1st, 2009 at 4:59 pm
So sad =o(
I really, really enjoyed the long piece on the history of calendars, but this short one on linguistics just went right above my head.
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 pm
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