Roman Jakobson | |
---|---|
Born |
Moscow, Russian Empire |
11 October 1896
Died | 18 July 1982 Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States |
(aged 85)
Alma mater |
Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages Moscow University |
Spouse(s) | Svatava Pirkova, Krystyna Pomorska |
School |
Moscow linguistic circle Prague linguistic circle |
Main interests
|
Linguistics |
Notable ideas
|
Jakobson's functions of language Markedness |
Influences
|
|
Roman Osipovich Jakobson (Russian: Рома́н О́сипович Якобсо́н; October 11, 1896 – July 18, 1982) was a Russian–American linguist and literary theorist.
As a pioneer of the structural analysis of language, which became the dominant trend in linguistics during the first half of the 20th century, Jakobson was among the most influential linguists of the century. Influenced by the work of Ferdinand de Saussure, Jakobson developed, with Nikolai Trubetzkoy, techniques for the analysis of sound systems in languages, inaugurating the discipline of phonology. He went on to apply the same techniques of analysis to syntax and morphology, and controversially proposed that they be extended to semantics (the study of meaning in language). He made numerous contributions to Slavic linguistics, most notably two studies of Russian case and an analysis of the categories of the Russian verb. Drawing on insights from Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotics, as well as from communication theory and cybernetics, he proposed methods for the investigation of poetry, music, the visual arts, and cinema.