Martin Joos
Encyclopedia
Martin Joos was a linguist and German
professor. He spent most of his career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, and also served at the University of Toronto
and as a visiting scholar
at the University of Alberta
, the University of Belgrade
, and the University of Edinburgh
.
During World War II Joos was a cryptologist for the US Signal Security Agency. The War Department honored him with a Distinguished Service citation in recognition of his work developing communication systems.
After the war he returned to the University of Wisconsin, eventually serving as the chairman of the Department of German.
Among Joos's books on linguistics is The Five Clocks (1962), which introduced influential discussions of style
, register
, and style-shifting
.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
professor. He spent most of his career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, and also served at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and as a visiting scholar
Visiting scholar
In the world of academia, a visiting scholar or visiting academic is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university, where he or she is projected to teach , lecture , or perform research on a topic the visitor is valued for...
at the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
, and the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
.
During World War II Joos was a cryptologist for the US Signal Security Agency. The War Department honored him with a Distinguished Service citation in recognition of his work developing communication systems.
After the war he returned to the University of Wisconsin, eventually serving as the chairman of the Department of German.
Among Joos's books on linguistics is The Five Clocks (1962), which introduced influential discussions of style
Stylistics (linguistics)
Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own...
, register
Register (sociolinguistics)
In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, when speaking in a formal setting an English speaker may be more likely to adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal...
, and style-shifting
Style-shifting
Style-shifting is a term in sociolinguistics referring to alternation between styles of speech included in a linguistic repertoire of an individual speaker. As noted by Eckert and Rickford, in sociolinguistic literature terms style and register sometimes have been used interchangeably...
.
Selected works
- 1951. Middle High German Courtly Reader (with F.R. Whitesell). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
- 1957. Readings in Linguistics: The Development of Descriptive Linguistics in America since 1925 (editor). Washington: ACLS.
- 1962. The Five Clocks. Bloomington: Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics. Reprinted in 1967 by Harcourt, Brace & World.
- 1964. The English Verb: Form and Meanings. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
- 1972. Semantic axiom number one. Language 48(2), 257-265.