The whimsical bloomfield

The author describes and gives excerpts from his correspondence with Leonard Bloomfield, principally between 1942 and 1945, dealing with the problems of preparing material for language-teaching in connection with the war-effort. In these post-cards and letters, in addition to dealing with serious matters, Bloomfield often included humorous remarks, or even invented entire episodes. The correspondence not only illustrates both the serious and the whimsical side of Bloomfield’s nature, but also throws light on various neglected aspects of the rôle played by linguistics in the American war-effort.