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== '''[[Linguistics]]''' ==
== '''[[Thomas Jefferson]]''' ==
''by [[User:John Stephenson|John Stephenson]] <small>(and [[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] and [[User:Stephen Ewen|Stephen Ewen]])</small>''
''by [[User:Richard Jenson|Richard Jenson]] <small>(and [[User:Jacob F. Roecker|Jacob F. Roecker]] and [[User:Michael D. Hattem|Michael D. Hattem]])</small>''
 
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[[Image:Spoken-language-naples.jpg|right|thumb|175px|{{#ifexist:Template:Spoken-language-naples.jpg/credit|{{Spoken-language-naples.jpg/credit}}<br/>|}}Language is arguably what most obviously distinguishes humans from all other species. Linguistics involves the study of that system of communication underlying everyday scenes like this.]]
'''[[Thomas Jefferson]]''' (1743-1826) was one of main proponents of democracy in world history and one of the leading Founding Fathers of the United States. He was the primary author of the [[Declaration of Independence]] (1776), the first Secretary of State (1789-1793), the founder of one of the world's two first political parties, the [[Democratic-Republican Party|Republican Party]] (1793). As [[President of the United States|president]] (1801-1809), Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803. Jefferson is best known as political theorist who helped redefine [[Republicanism, U.S.|republicanism]] and promoted democracy and equal rights, while fighting aristocracy and established religion.
'''[[Linguistics]]''' is the scientific study of language. Its primary goal is to learn about the 'natural' language that humans use every day and how it works. Linguists ask such fundamental questions as: What aspects of language are universal for all humans? How can we account for the remarkable grammatical similarities between languages as apparently diverse as English, Japanese and Arabic?  What are the rules of grammar that we language users employ, and how do we come to 'know' them?  To what extent is the structure of language related to how we think about the world around us?  A ''linguist'', then, here refers to a linguistics expert who seeks to answer such questions, rather than someone who is multilingual.  
{{Image|Thomas_Jefferson.jpg|right|225px|Portrait by Rembrandt Peale}}
 
''Theoretical'' linguists are concerned with questions about the apparent human 'instinct' to communicate,<ref>The view that language is an 'instinct' comparable to walking or bird song is most famously articulated in Pinker (1994).</ref> rather than authorising 'rules' of style or 'correctness' as found in grammar textbooks or popular guides.<ref>A popular recent example is Truss (2003).</ref> For example, *''dog the''<ref>An asterisk (*) indicates that what follows is unacceptable to speakers of that language.</ref> is unacceptable in English, but children recognise as much long before they receive any formal grammatical instruction. It is such recognitions, and the implicit rules they imply, that are of primary concern in linguistics, as opposed to rules as prescribed by an authority.
 
Although interesting in its own right as one of the directions we follow to learn more about ourselves and the world around us, the study of linguistics is also highly relevant to solving real-life problems. ''Applied'' linguists may bring their insights to such fields as foreign language teaching, speech therapy and translation.<ref>Increasingly, however, applied linguists have been developing their own views of language, which often focus on the language learner rather than the system itself: see for example Cook (2002) and the same author's [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA website].</ref> While in universities and research institutions worldwide, scholars are studying the facts of individual languages or the system of language itself to find evidence for theories or test hypotheses, applied linguists are at work in classrooms, clinics, courts and the highest levels of government. They use their knowledge to bridge linguistic divides, coax speech from the mouths of the disabled or abused, supply forensic evidence in courtroom trials, find out how language comes to children - in fact, they are everywhere people in need or in conflict over language are to be found.


In virtue of the fact stated in the first paragraph, that the primary goal of linguistics "is to learn about the 'natural' language that humans use every day and how it works", we recognize that core areas of linguistics qualify as biological science, a recognition reinforced by the kinds of questions studiers of linguistics ask and seek answers to, detailed in that first and the succeeding two paragraphs.<ref name=bioling>Di Sciullo AM, Boeckx C. (editors) (2011) ''The Biolinguistic Enterprise: New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of the Human Language Faculty''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0199553270. | [http://books.google.com/books?id=aHbNVjpvqU4C&source=gbs_navlinks_s Google Books preview].</ref>
===Early career===
Jefferson was the third child born to a well-connected planter family of moderate wealth in Goochland County on Virginia's western frontier. His father, Peter Jefferson (1707-57), of Welsh descent, was a county magistrate and was elected to the House of Burgesses (the legislature). His mother, Jane Randolph, belonged to the leading family in the British colony. Peter taught the boy farming; they hunted and fished together. His formal education began under two Anglican ministers, which was the established church in Virginia. He became proficient in Latin and Greek and had some French. He was also tutored in dancing, became proficient on the violin, learned chess, avoided cards, and was a fearless and accomplished horseman. His father died in 1757 leaving him some slaves and 2,750 acres of undeveloped farmland.<ref>Merrill D. Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography'' (1975) ch. 1</ref>  


''[[Linguistics|.... (read more)]]''
''[[Thomas Jefferson|.... (read more)]]''


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Revision as of 00:35, 23 December 2011

Thomas Jefferson

by Richard Jenson (and Jacob F. Roecker and Michael D. Hattem)

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was one of main proponents of democracy in world history and one of the leading Founding Fathers of the United States. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), the first Secretary of State (1789-1793), the founder of one of the world's two first political parties, the Republican Party (1793). As president (1801-1809), Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803. Jefferson is best known as political theorist who helped redefine republicanism and promoted democracy and equal rights, while fighting aristocracy and established religion.

(PD) Image: Rembrandt Peale
Portrait by Rembrandt Peale

Early career

Jefferson was the third child born to a well-connected planter family of moderate wealth in Goochland County on Virginia's western frontier. His father, Peter Jefferson (1707-57), of Welsh descent, was a county magistrate and was elected to the House of Burgesses (the legislature). His mother, Jane Randolph, belonged to the leading family in the British colony. Peter taught the boy farming; they hunted and fished together. His formal education began under two Anglican ministers, which was the established church in Virginia. He became proficient in Latin and Greek and had some French. He was also tutored in dancing, became proficient on the violin, learned chess, avoided cards, and was a fearless and accomplished horseman. His father died in 1757 leaving him some slaves and 2,750 acres of undeveloped farmland.[1]

.... (read more)

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