Jakobson, Roman

Jakobson, Roman

▪ American linguist
Russian  Roman Osipovich Jakobson  
born Oct. 11 [Sept. 29, Old Style], 1896, Moscow, Russia
died July 18, 1982, Boston, Mass., U.S.

      Russian born American linguist and Slavic-language scholar, a principal founder of the European movement in structural linguistics known as the Prague school. Jakobson extended the theoretical and practical concerns of the school into new areas of study.

      Jakobson became professor of Russian at the Higher Dramatic School, Moscow, in 1920, and in 1928, with his colleagues of the Prague school, Nikolaj S. Trubetzkoy and S.I. Karcevskij, he announced a radical departure from the classical structural position of the influential Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. They suggested that their methods of studying the function of speech sounds could be applied both synchronically, to a language as it exists, and diachronically, to a language as it changes. Among his earlier works were Remarques sur l'évolution phonologique du russe comparée à celles des autres langues slaves (1929; “Comments on Phonological Change in Russian Compared with That in Other Slavic Languages”) and Kharakteristichke yevrazi-yskogo yazykovogo soyuza (1931; “Characteristics of the Eurasian Language Affinity”).

      Jakobson began his association with Masarykova University (now the Purkyně University) of Brno, Czech., in 1933, becoming professor of Russian philology (1934) and Czech medieval literature (1936) there. The European political situation, however, compelled him to flee successively to the universities of Copenhagen, Oslo, and Uppsala, Swed., where he served as visiting professor. In 1941 he reached New York City, where he taught at Columbia University (1943–49). He was professor of Slavic languages and literature and general linguistics at Harvard University (1949–67).

      The titles of Jakobson's works indicate the expanding scope of his research—e.g., Kindersprache and Aphasie und allgemeine Lautgesetze (both 1941; Studies in Child-Language and Aphasia). Among his later works are Preliminaries to Speech Analysis (1952), a pioneering work in the distinctive feature analysis of speech sounds, written in collaboration with C. Gunnar, M. Fant, and Morris Halle, and Fundamentals of Language (1956; rev. ed. 1971), also with Halle. Jakobson's Selected Writings, 6 vol. (1967–71), are concerned with phonological studies, the word, language, poetry, grammar, Slavic epic studies, ties, and traditions. His The Sound Shape of Language, with Linda R. Waugh, was published in 1979.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • JAKOBSON, ROMAN — (1896–1982), philologist and literary historian. Born in Moscow, Jakobson studied and did research at Moscow University before settling in Czechoslovakia in 1921. In 1926 he was co founder of the Cercle Linguistique de Prague, which pioneered… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Jakobson,Roman — Ja·kob·son (yäʹkəb sən), Roman. 1896 1982. Russian born American linguist. A founder of modern structural linguistics and modern phonology, he was particularly influential in the fields of Slavic languages, phonology, and poetics. * * * …   Universalium

  • Jakobson, Roman (Osipovich) — born Oct. 11, 1896, Moscow, Russia died July 18, 1982, Boston, Mass., U.S. Russian born U.S. linguist. Born and educated in Moscow, Jakobson moved to Prague in 1920; the European political situation forced him to flee to Scandinavia in 1938 and… …   Universalium

  • Jakobson, Roman (Osipovich) — (11 oct. 1896, Moscú, Rusia–18 jul. 1982, Boston, Mass., EE.UU.). Lingüista estadounidense de origen ruso. Nacido y educado en Moscú, Jakobson se trasladó a Praga en 1920. La situación política europea lo obligó a escapar a Escandinavia en 1938 y …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jakobson, Roman — (1896 1982)    Russian philologist. Born in Moscow, he studied at Moscow University and Prague University. He helped establish the Moscow Linguistic Circle to study linguistics, poetics, metrics and folklore. In Prague he was a founder of the… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Jakobson, Roman — ► (1898 1982) Lingüista ruso. Junto con Trubetzkoy, fue el principal fonólogo del Círculo de Praga. En Principios de fonología histórica (1931) defiende una fonología diacrónica. Intentó una clasificación unitaria de vocales y consonantes en un… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jakobson — Jakobson, Roman …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Roman Ossipowitsch Jakobson — (russisch Роман Осипович Якобсон, wiss. Transliteration Roman Osipovič Jakobson; * 11.jul./ 23. Oktober 1896greg. in Moskau; † 18. Juli 1982 in Boston, Vereinigte Staaten) war ein russischer Philologe, Linguist und Semiotiker …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Roman Jacobson — Roman Ossipowitsch Jakobson (russisch Роман Осипович Якобсон, wiss. Transliteration Roman Osipovič Jakobson; * 23. Oktober 1896 in Moskau; † 18. Juli 1982 in Boston) war ein russischer Philologe, Linguist und Semiotiker. Inhaltsverzeichnis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Roman Jakobson — Roman Ossipowitsch Jakobson (russisch Роман Осипович Якобсон, wiss. Transliteration Roman Osipovič Jakobson; * 23. Oktober 1896 in Moskau; † 18. Juli 1982 in Boston) war ein russischer Philologe, Linguist und Semiotiker. Inhaltsverzeichnis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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