Gregory Guy
Encyclopedia
Gregory R. Guy is a linguist who specializes in the study of language variation and language diversity, including sociolinguistics
, historical linguistics
, phonetics
and phonology
. He has a particular interest in the Brazilian Portuguese
and Spanish
languages.
He received his first of two B.A.
degrees from Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(the only high school
in the United States
accredited to award such degrees to high school students), and went on to receive his B.A. from Boston University
in 1972, and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania
in 1975 and 1981. His PhD dissertation described syntactic change in spoken Brazilian Portuguese
.
Guy is now a Professor of Linguistics
at New York University
and has taught at Sydney, Temple, Cornell, Stanford, and York University
in Toronto
, Canada
, and at Institutes of the Linguistic Society of America
(1993, 1997, 2003, 2007) and the Associação Brasileira de Lingüística (1999, 2005). In sociolinguistics he has focused on language variation, language contact
, quantitative methods
, and the connection between social diversity and language change. He has conducted research on Brazilian Portuguese
, Australian
and American English
, and Dominican
and Argentine Spanish. Recent research projects include an investigation of ‘sociolinguistic universals’ with funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council
of Canada
.
Notable publications include Towards a Social Science of Language and a series of papers in the journal Language Variation and Change dealing with linguistic variation and phonological theory
.
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...
, historical linguistics
Historical linguistics
Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...
, phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
and phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
. He has a particular interest in the Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
languages.
He received his first of two B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degrees from Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(the only high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
accredited to award such degrees to high school students), and went on to receive his B.A. from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
in 1972, and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1975 and 1981. His PhD dissertation described syntactic change in spoken Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
.
Guy is now a Professor 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....
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and has taught at Sydney, Temple, Cornell, Stanford, and York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and at Institutes of the Linguistic Society of America
Linguistic Society of America
The Linguistic Society of America is a professional society for linguists. It was founded in 1924 to advance linguistics, the scientific study of human language. The LSA has over 5,000 individual members and welcomes linguists of all kinds. It works to advance the discipline and to communicate...
(1993, 1997, 2003, 2007) and the Associação Brasileira de Lingüística (1999, 2005). In sociolinguistics he has focused on language variation, language contact
Language contact
Language contact occurs when two or more languages or varieties interact. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics.Multilingualism has likely been common throughout much of human history, and today most people in the world are multilingual...
, quantitative methods
Quantitative linguistics
Quantitative linguistics is a sub-discipline of general linguistics and, more specifically, of mathematical linguistics. Quantitative Linguistics deals with language learning, language change, and application as well as structure of natural languages...
, and the connection between social diversity and language change. He has conducted research on Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
, Australian
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
and American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
, and Dominican
Dominican Spanish
Dominican Spanish is Spanish as spoken in the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean country, and throughout the Dominican diaspora, which is found mostly in the United States, chiefly in New York City, Boston, and Miami....
and Argentine Spanish. Recent research projects include an investigation of ‘sociolinguistic universals’ with funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council
Social Science and Humanities Research Council
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is an arm of the Canadian federal funding agency. SSHRC supports a wide range of research and scholarship in the social sciences and humanities. The current president of the Council is Chad Gaffield.- History :SSHRC was formally...
of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Notable publications include Towards a Social Science of Language and a series of papers in the journal Language Variation and Change dealing with linguistic variation and phonological theory
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
.
Published works
- Gregory R Guy, John Baugh, Deborah Schiffrin, and Crawford Feagin Towards a social science of language:papers in honor of William Labov Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins, ISBN 1-55619-581-8 (vol. 1) ISBN 90-272-3631-3 (vol. 2)
External links
- Guy's home page at NY University Department of Linguistics