Charles Albert Ferguson (July 6, 1921 – September 2, 1998) was an American linguist who taught at Stanford University. He was one of the founders of sociolinguistics and is best known for his work on diglossia. The TOEFL test was created under his leadership at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC. Ferguson was also the leader of a team of linguists in Ethiopia under the Ford Foundation's Survey of Language Use and Language Teaching. One of the many publications that came out of this was his article proposing the Ethiopian Language Area (Ferguson 1976), an article that has become widely cited and an important milestone in the study of contact linguistics.
Ferguson is also widely noted for his seminal article on diglossia, published in 1959 and (reprinted since then in other publications) and frequently cited by others, listed by Google Scholar as having been cited over 6,000 times.[1]
Ferguson was also a major figure in the study of child phonology and led the Stanford Child Phonology Project from 1967 until 1990.[2]
He was honored with a two-volume collection of papers in a 1986 festschrift, edited by Joshua A. Fishman and others.
Charles Albert Ferguson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1921. He had an early curiosity for language, system, and order which led him to explore foreign languages through Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania (BA 1942, MA 1943 with a thesis on the Moroccan Arabic Verb; PhD 1945 with a dissertation on Standard Colloquial Bengali).[3]
^Charles A. Ferguson [obituary]. Lise Menn, William Bright, and Khalil Barhoum. Language 75.4.781-800 (1999)
^"Memorial resolution: Charles A. Ferguson (1921-1998)", Stanford University news, Stanford Report, May 19, 1999
Further readingedit
Ferguson, Charles A. 1959. Diglossia. Word 15: 325-340.
Ferguson, Charles. 1976. The Ethiopian Language Area. Language In Ethiopia, ed. by M. Lionel Bender, J. Donald Bowen, R.L. Cooper, Charles A. Ferguson, pp. 63–76. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fishman, Joshua. 2000. "Obituary: Charles A. Ferguson, 1921-1998: An Appreciation," Journal of Sociolinguistics 4/1: 121-128.
Fishman, Joshua, et al., eds. 1986. The Fergusonian impact: in honor of Charles A. Ferguson on the occasion of his 65th birthday. (Contributions to the sociology of language, 42.) Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Huebner, Thom. 1999. "Obituary Charles Albert Ferguson". Language in Society 28: 431-437.
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charles, ferguson, other, people, with, same, name, charles, ferguson, disambiguation, charles, albert, ferguson, july, 1921, september, 1998, american, linguist, taught, stanford, university, founders, sociolinguistics, best, known, work, diglossia, toefl, te. For other people with the same name see Charles Ferguson disambiguation Charles Albert Ferguson July 6 1921 September 2 1998 was an American linguist who taught at Stanford University He was one of the founders of sociolinguistics and is best known for his work on diglossia The TOEFL test was created under his leadership at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington DC Ferguson was also the leader of a team of linguists in Ethiopia under the Ford Foundation s Survey of Language Use and Language Teaching One of the many publications that came out of this was his article proposing the Ethiopian Language Area Ferguson 1976 an article that has become widely cited and an important milestone in the study of contact linguistics Ferguson is also widely noted for his seminal article on diglossia published in 1959 and reprinted since then in other publications and frequently cited by others listed by Google Scholar as having been cited over 6 000 times 1 Ferguson was also a major figure in the study of child phonology and led the Stanford Child Phonology Project from 1967 until 1990 2 He was honored with a two volume collection of papers in a 1986 festschrift edited by Joshua A Fishman and others In 1952 he served on the Advisory Committee on Arabic and Persian Names a committee established by the United States Board on Geographic Names Life and education editCharles Albert Ferguson was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1921 He had an early curiosity for language system and order which led him to explore foreign languages through Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania BA 1942 MA 1943 with a thesis on the Moroccan Arabic Verb PhD 1945 with a dissertation on Standard Colloquial Bengali 3 References edit Google Scholar entry Charles A Ferguson obituary Lise Menn William Bright and Khalil Barhoum Language 75 4 781 800 1999 Memorial resolution Charles A Ferguson 1921 1998 Stanford University news Stanford Report May 19 1999Further reading editFerguson Charles A 1959 Diglossia Word 15 325 340 Ferguson Charles 1976 The Ethiopian Language Area Language In Ethiopia ed by M Lionel Bender J Donald Bowen R L Cooper Charles A Ferguson pp 63 76 Oxford Oxford University Press Fishman Joshua 2000 Obituary Charles A Ferguson 1921 1998 An Appreciation Journal of Sociolinguistics 4 1 121 128 Fishman Joshua et al eds 1986 The Fergusonian impact in honor of Charles A Ferguson on the occasion of his 65th birthday Contributions to the sociology of language 42 Berlin Mouton de Gruyter Huebner Thom 1999 Obituary Charles Albert Ferguson Language in Society 28 431 437 nbsp nbsp This biography of a United States linguist is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This sociolinguistics article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about an Africanist person involved in the study of Africa is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charles A Ferguson amp oldid 1157415350, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
