Although the semantic theory proposed by Harris in Hermes (1751) was not well received in 18th-century England and has been generally neglected by scholars ever since, it is certainly deserving of our attention because it is a perceptive analysis of the logico-semantic structure of language. In the tradition of philosophical or universal grammar, Harris argued that the subject matter of the linguist should be the conceptual level or the deep structure of language rather than the utterance or the surface structure. Therefore, Harris reasoned that an adequate explanation of meaning required a description of the relationship of language and thought. Furthermore, since he recognized that the study of language was necessary for the advancement of learning, which he considered to be the essence of science, he regarded the limits of 18th-century science too narrow in that they excluded semantics. Harris’ theory advanced that an analysis of the sentence, the basis of the synthesis of the mind and language, was crucial to a semantic theory. Since the number of utterances is infinite, Harris attempted to discover a finite and universal set of psychological principles which he believed generated sentences. Although he concluded that a notion of general and particular ideas would ultimately explain verbal communication, he hoped that identifying the source of these ideas would be the work of future scholars.
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1957History of the English Language. 2nd. ed. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
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(c. 1626–87) 1661Ars signorum, vulgo character universalis. London: J. Hayes. (Repr., Menston: Scolar Press 1969.)
DeMott, Benjamin
1957 “Science versus Mnemonics: Notes on John Ray and on John Wilkins’ Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Grammar”. Isis 481.3–12.
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1973Transformational Grammar as a Theory of Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Fearn, John
(1768–1837). 1824–1827Anti-Tooke; or an Analysis of the Principles and Structures of Language exemplified in the English Tongue. 21 vols. London. (Facs.-ed., Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog 1972.)
Funke, Otto
1959 “On the Sources of John Wilkins’ ‘Philosophical Language’ (1668)”. ES 401.208–14.
Harris, James
(1709–80). 1751Hermes: or, a Philosophical Inquiry concerning Language and Universal Grammar. London: J. Nourse and P. Vaillant. (Repr., Menston: Scolar Press 1968.)
Home Tooke, John
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Hymes, Dell
ed.1974Studies in the History of Linguistics: Traditions and Paradigms. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press.
Jones, Richard F.
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1972Semantic Theory. New York & London: Harper & Row.
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1970The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd. ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Leech, Geoffry
1974Semantics. Middlesex, England: Penguin.
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(1710–87). 1762A Short Introduction to English Grammar. London: A. Miller & R. & J. Dodsby. (Repr., Menston: Scolar Press 1967.)
McCawley, James D.
1970 “Where Do Noun Phrases Come From?”. Readings in Transformational Grammar ed. by Roderick A. Jacobs and Peter S. Rosenbaum, 166–83. Waltham, Mass.: Ginn & Co.
1971 “On the Requirement that Transformations Preserve Meaning”. Studies in Linguistic Semantics ed. by Charles L. Fillmore and D. Terence Langendoen, 1–21. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Peters, Robert A.
1968A Linguistic History of English. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Purver, Margery
1967Royal Society: Concept and Creation. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
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1971The Origin and Development of the English Language. 2nd. rev. ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
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Subbiondo, Joseph L.
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.