Zeno Vendler
Encyclopedia
Zeno Vendler was an American philosopher of language
, and a founding member and former director of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calgary
. His work on lexical aspect, quantifiers, and nominalization
has been influential in the field of linguistics
.
, where he learned to speak both Hungarian
and German
. He studied there until he began to train as a Jesuit priest in Maastricht
. Vendler later went to Harvard University
to study philosophy
, and earned his doctorate in 1959 with a dissertation entitled "Facts and Laws." After holding several teaching positions at various American universities, he became a professor at the University of Calgary, where he was one of the founding members of the Department of Philosophy. After leaving the University of Calgary in 1973, he taught at several other schools, including Rice University
and the University of California, San Diego
.
He was married twice—his first wife was poetry critic Helen Hennessy Vendler—and had two sons. Vendler died on 13 January 2004 at the age of 83.
article "Verbs and times" first introduced a four-way distinction between verbs based on their aspectual features, a distinction which has had a major influence on theories of lexical aspect or aktionsart.
Under Vendler's model, events may be classified into one of four aspectual classes:
Vendler also popularized the use of the progressive aspect
as a diagnostic for distinguishing between these lexical classes; for example, activities and accomplishments are able to appear in the progressive (He is running, He is painting a picture), whereas states and achievements are not (*He is knowing French, *He is recognizing his friend). Vendler's categories are still widely used in current research in areas such as syntax
, semantics
, and second language acquisition
. Linguist S.-Y. Kuroda
has said that Vendler's terms achievement and accomplishment "have since become basic technical vocabulary in modern linguistics," and have been used to develop numerous theories and allow for "sophisticated and highly technical" research in a variety of areas.
Vendler's 1967 book Linguistics in Philosophy, a collection of some of his earlier articles, had a large influence on the field of linguistic philosophy
, which attempts to use the study of language and linguistic structures to inform philosophical theory. The book has been described as an attempt to "reconcile the empirical basis of linguistic science with the a priori nature of philosophical reasoning." His 1972 Res Cogitans also dealt with the relationship between language and philosophy.
Overall, Vendler published over 30 widely cited journal articles and four monographs.
Philosophy of language
Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for analytic philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language...
, and a founding member and former director of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calgary
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
. His work on lexical aspect, quantifiers, and nominalization
Nominalization
In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation...
has been influential in the field of 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....
.
Life
Vendler was born and raised in HungaryHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, where he learned to speak both Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
and German
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....
. He studied there until he began to train as a Jesuit priest in Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
. Vendler later went to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to study philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, and earned his doctorate in 1959 with a dissertation entitled "Facts and Laws." After holding several teaching positions at various American universities, he became a professor at the University of Calgary, where he was one of the founding members of the Department of Philosophy. After leaving the University of Calgary in 1973, he taught at several other schools, including Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
and the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
.
He was married twice—his first wife was poetry critic Helen Hennessy Vendler—and had two sons. Vendler died on 13 January 2004 at the age of 83.
Influence
Vendler's 1957 Philosophical ReviewThe Philosophical Review
The Philosophical Review is a quarterly journal of philosophy edited by the faculty of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University and published by Duke University Press . The journal publishes original work in all areas of analytic philosophy, but emphasizes material that is of general...
article "Verbs and times" first introduced a four-way distinction between verbs based on their aspectual features, a distinction which has had a major influence on theories of lexical aspect or aktionsart.
Under Vendler's model, events may be classified into one of four aspectual classes:
- states, which are static and do not have an endpoint ("know," "love");
- activities, which are dynamic and do not have an endpoint ("run," "drive");
- accomplishments, which have an endpoint and are incremental or gradual ("paint a picture," "build a house"); and
- achievements, which have an endpoint and occur instantaneously ("recognize," "notice").
Vendler also popularized the use of the progressive aspect
Continuous and progressive aspects
The continuous and progressive aspects are grammatical aspects that express incomplete action in progress at a specific time: they are non-habitual, imperfective aspects. It is a verb category with two principal meaning components: duration and incompletion...
as a diagnostic for distinguishing between these lexical classes; for example, activities and accomplishments are able to appear in the progressive (He is running, He is painting a picture), whereas states and achievements are not (*He is knowing French, *He is recognizing his friend). Vendler's categories are still widely used in current research in areas such as 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 second language acquisition
Second language acquisition
Second-language acquisition or second-language learning is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the name of the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process...
. Linguist S.-Y. Kuroda
S.-Y. Kuroda
, aka S.-Y. Kuroda, was Professor Emeritusand Research Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, San Diego.Although a pioneer in the application of Chomskyan generative syntax to...
has said that Vendler's terms achievement and accomplishment "have since become basic technical vocabulary in modern linguistics," and have been used to develop numerous theories and allow for "sophisticated and highly technical" research in a variety of areas.
Vendler's 1967 book Linguistics in Philosophy, a collection of some of his earlier articles, had a large influence on the field of linguistic philosophy
Ordinary language philosophy
Ordinary language philosophy is a philosophical school that approaches traditional philosophical problems as rooted in misunderstandings philosophers develop by distorting or forgetting what words actually mean in everyday use....
, which attempts to use the study of language and linguistic structures to inform philosophical theory. The book has been described as an attempt to "reconcile the empirical basis of linguistic science with the a priori nature of philosophical reasoning." His 1972 Res Cogitans also dealt with the relationship between language and philosophy.
Overall, Vendler published over 30 widely cited journal articles and four monographs.