James D. McCawley
Encyclopedia
James David McCawley was an American linguist
.
McCawley was born James Quillan McCawley, Jr. to Dr. Monica Bateman McCawley (b. 1901), a physician and surgeon, and James Quillan McCawley (b. 1899), a businessman. In 1939 his father and two brothers moved to Toronto
and founded a roofing company, but his mother remained in Glasgow with the children until after World War II
. James Sr. moved to New York City
and finally Chicago
, where the family joined him. It was on his arrival in America that young McCawley changed his name to James David McCawley, dropping the "Junior."
He skipped several grades in school and entered the University of Chicago
in 1954 at the age of 16 and soon gained early admission to the graduate school, from which he received an M.S. in mathematics in 1958. He then received a Fulbright fellowship to study mathematics and logic in 1959-60 at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in
Münster
. During this time he became disillusioned with mathematics, and after sitting in on a linguistics
course taught by Eric Hamp, he became more and more interested in the subject and began taking language courses; on his return to America, he applied to the new linguistics graduate program at MIT and was accepted, spending the next three years as a member of the first Ph.D. class there. He worked as a research assistant with the Mechanical Translation group in 1962 and 1963, and in 1965 he received his doctorate for a dissertation under Noam Chomsky
on The accentual system of modern standard Japanese. By this time he had already returned to the University of Chicago as Assistant Professor of Linguistics.
He worked at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Chicago
from 1964 until his sudden and unexpected death. His interests encompassed syntax
, semantics
and phonology
. He is perhaps best known within linguistics for his work in generative semantics
. Outside academia he is noted for The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters, his guidebook to deciphering Chinese restaurant
menus.
Under the pseudonym "Quang Phúc Ðông" (alleged to be a linguist at the fictitious South Hanoi Institute of Technology), McCawley wrote a paper on "English sentences without overt grammatical subject," which the journal Language credits with being the first satirical linguistics paper.
Linguistics
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....
.
McCawley was born James Quillan McCawley, Jr. to Dr. Monica Bateman McCawley (b. 1901), a physician and surgeon, and James Quillan McCawley (b. 1899), a businessman. In 1939 his father and two brothers moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and founded a roofing company, but his mother remained in Glasgow with the children until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. James Sr. moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and finally Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where the family joined him. It was on his arrival in America that young McCawley changed his name to James David McCawley, dropping the "Junior."
He skipped several grades in school and entered the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1954 at the age of 16 and soon gained early admission to the graduate school, from which he received an M.S. in mathematics in 1958. He then received a Fulbright fellowship to study mathematics and logic in 1959-60 at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in
Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
. During this time he became disillusioned with mathematics, and after sitting in on a linguistics
Linguistics
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....
course taught by Eric Hamp, he became more and more interested in the subject and began taking language courses; on his return to America, he applied to the new linguistics graduate program at MIT and was accepted, spending the next three years as a member of the first Ph.D. class there. He worked as a research assistant with the Mechanical Translation group in 1962 and 1963, and in 1965 he received his doctorate for a dissertation under Noam Chomsky
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...
on The accentual system of modern standard Japanese. By this time he had already returned to the University of Chicago as Assistant Professor of Linguistics.
He worked at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
from 1964 until his sudden and unexpected death. His interests encompassed syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
, semantics
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
and phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
. He is perhaps best known within linguistics for his work in generative semantics
Generative semantics
Generative semantics is the name of a research program within linguistics, initiated by the work of various early students of Noam Chomsky: John R. Ross, Paul Postal and later James McCawley...
. Outside academia he is noted for The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters, his guidebook to deciphering Chinese restaurant
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
menus.
Under the pseudonym "Quang Phúc Ðông" (alleged to be a linguist at the fictitious South Hanoi Institute of Technology), McCawley wrote a paper on "English sentences without overt grammatical subject," which the journal Language credits with being the first satirical linguistics paper.
Books
- The Phonological Component of a Grammar of Japanese. The Hague: Mouton, 1968. (Revised version of PhD thesis, The accentual system of standard Japanese.)
- Grammar and Meaning: Papers on Syntactic and Semantic Topics. Tokyo: Taishukan, 1973. Reprint. New York: Academic Press, 1976. ISBN 0-12-482450-1
- Notes from the Linguistic Underground. (Syntax and Semantics, vol. 7.) New York: Academic Press, 1976. ISBN 0-12-613507-X
- Adverbs, Vowels, and Other Objects of Wonder. University of Chicago Press, 1979. ISBN 0-226-55615-8
- Everything that Linguists Have Always Wanted to Know About Logic (but were Ashamed to Ask). University of Chicago Press, 1981. ISBN 0-226-55618-2 Blackwell, 1982. ISBN 0-631-12614-7 (hardback), ISBN 0-631-12644-9 (paperback) / 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 1993. ISBN 0-226-55611-5
- Thirty Million Theories of Grammar. University of Chicago Press, 1982. ISBN 0-226-55619-0
- The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters. University of Chicago Press, 1984. ISBN 0-226-55591-7 Reprint. University of Chicago Press, 2004. ISBN 0-226-55592-5
- The Syntactic Phenomena of English. University of Chicago Press, 1988. 2 vols. Vol. 1 ISBN 0-226-55624-7, Vol. 2 ISBN 0-226-55626-3
- A Linguistic Flea Circus. Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1991. / 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN 0-226-55627-1 (hardback) ISBN 0-226-55629-8 (paperback)
Related books
- Brentari, Diane, Gary N. Larson, and Lynn A. McCleod, eds. The Joy of Grammar: A Festschrift in Honor of James D. McCawley. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1992. ISBN 1-55619-454-4 (hardback) and ISBN 1-55619-455-2 (paperback)
- Mufwene, Salikoko S., Elaine J. Francis, and Rebecca S. Wheeler, eds. Polymorphous Linguistics: Jim McCawley's Legacy. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN 0-262-06245-3 (alk. paper); ISBN 0-262-56209-X (pbk.). ["Publications by Jim McCawley," xvii-xxx.]
- Trillin, CalvinCalvin TrillinCalvin Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist.-Biography:Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and was a member of Scroll and Key before graduating...
, "Divining the Mysteries of the East," in Third Helpings, 1983; New Haven and New York: Ticknor & Fields ISBN 0-89919-173-8. Reprinted in The Tummy Trilogy, 1994; New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux, ISBN 0-374-27950-0. - Zwicky, Arnold M., Peter Salus, Robert I. Binnick, and Anthony Vanek (eds.) Studies out in Left Field: Defamatory essays presented to James D. McCawley on his 33rd or 34th birthday. Edmonton, Alb.: Linguistic Research. 1971. Reprint. John Benjamins, 1992. ISBN 1-55619-460-9 and ISBN 90-272-2111-1
External links
- Lawler, John, 2003, "James D. McCawley," Language 79:614-25. Contains much biographical information.
- McCawley's own page at the University of Chicago (last revised in 2006 and as stored at archive.org)
- Memorial page at the University of Chicago
- "English sentences without overt grammatical subject"
Satirical linguistics
Papers by and about McCawley, which originally appeared in Lingua Pranca in 1978:- Dates in the Month of May that Are of Interest to Linguists, James D. McCawley
- Linguistic Influences In Recent Research On Music, James D. McCawley
- Current Issues in Gastronomy, Elan Dresher and Norbert Hornstein