Michael Silverstein facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michael Silverstein
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| Born | 12 September 1945 New York, New York, U.S.A.
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| Died | 17 July 2020 (aged 74) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Harvard University (BA, Ph.D.) |
| Known for | Metapragmatics, language ideology |
| Title | Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Chicago |
| Doctoral advisor | Karl Teeter |
Michael Silverstein (born September 12, 1945 – died July 17, 2020) was an American expert in language. He was a professor at the University of Chicago. There, he taught about people, language, and how our minds work.
He was a big thinker in the fields of semiotics (the study of signs and symbols) and linguistic anthropology (how language and culture connect). Michael Silverstein brought together many ideas. These included how we communicate, how people interact, and how language is used in real life.
He also looked at how language structure works and how it relates to culture. He helped introduce important ideas like indexicality (when a word or sign points to something else). He also created terms like metapragmatics and metasemantics. These terms help us understand how we talk about language itself. He also helped make "language ideology" a key area of study.
Contents
Michael Silverstein's Work
Early Life and Education
Michael Silverstein went to Harvard University for his college degree. He also earned his Ph.D. (a high-level degree) there. At Harvard, he learned from famous thinkers like Roman Jakobson, who was a linguist, and Willard Van Orman Quine, a philosopher.
In 1982, he received a special award called a MacArthur Fellowship. This award is given to talented people to help them continue their important work. He was one of the youngest people to get this award at the time.
Understanding Language and Culture
Silverstein was very important in defining "language ideologies" as a field of study. Language ideologies are the ideas and beliefs that people have about language. These beliefs include what language is for and how people use it.
He built on the ideas of other scholars like Benjamin Lee Whorf and Charles Sanders Peirce. Silverstein believed that our ideas about language guide how we speak. This, in turn, can change language over time.
For example, if we believe language can be used to show respect, we might use polite words. By doing this, we help shape how politeness works in our language. So, language ideologies connect how we use language with our social and cultural rules.
Impact on Language Studies
Michael Silverstein's work changed how many experts thought about language. It made people more interested in how language shapes our thoughts, a concept called linguistic relativity.
His ideas also offered a different way to look at language, compared to the views of Noam Chomsky. Silverstein's work encouraged a more critical way of studying language in society. This influenced how people think about language rules, planning, and teaching.
He also spent time studying the languages of native peoples. These included Aboriginal languages in Australia and Indigenous languages in the Americas.
In 2014, he received the Franz Boas award. This is a very important award given by the American Anthropological Association. It honors excellent service to the study of people and culture.
See also
In Spanish: Michael Silverstein para niños
