In 2023, the famous American linguist, philosopher and political activist N. Chomsky turned 95 years old. This scholar is called the father of modern linguistics. His works are studied and criticized around the world. Chomsky has written more than 100 books. Many of them are on political topics. We will tell you more about his achievements in linguistics and his criticism of the US government. Follow us on iphiladelphia.
Education and career
N. Chomsky was born in Philadelphia on December 7, 1928, to a Jewish family that had migrated from what is now Ukraine, which was then part of the USSR. William Chomsky was a professor of Hebrew. Interestingly, his mother and father knew Yiddish. It was their native language, but they never spoke it with their son.
In 1945, Noam entered the University of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh to study linguistics and philosophy. After 10 years, he earned his PhD, having done much of his research at Harvard. In 1957, he published Syntactic Structures, which summarized the previous years and became one of his most famous works.
For more than half a century, Chomsky taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He continued his research on language. Starting in the 1960s, he developed an inclination toward political affairs and began articulating rather uncompromising viewpoints, including candid denunciations of the United States government.
The scientist retired from MIT in 2002, but remained an honorary lecturer at the university, with the opportunity to conduct research and organize seminars for students. In addition, Chomsky is often invited to various universities around the world. For example, in 2017, he taught a course on politics at the University of Arizona.
The universities of London, Chicago and Delhi awarded him honorary doctorates. Among his awards:
- Kyoto Prize in 1988
- Benjamin Franklin Medal in 1999
- Peace Prize from the International Peace Bureau in 2017.
Thus, N. Chomsky is a well-known scholar and public figure. He is also quite active in expressing his ideas. The latter provoke a lot of discussions because they are new in some ways, revolutionary in others and sometimes difficult to understand.
Linguistics and politics
The book Syntactic Structures is considered a significant contribution to theoretical linguistics of the twentieth century. It has influenced this science around the world and provoked many discussions. Its fundamental position is the innate nature of the ability to speak.
The details of his theory were changed and developed by the scientist, but its general principles remained unshakable. He calls the ability of people to speak and structure their statements a genetic program. That is, there are certain structural principles that we are not aware of, but which we use from birth. It is thanks to this that we can learn and use languages.
Chomsky believes that the speed at which children learn a language is not explained by modern learning theories. Instead, he proposes an innate predisposition of intelligence, a kind of universal grammar that contains pattern rules. Children recognize them when they hear speech. Therefore, it is enough for them to learn individual words and have a few examples to understand the functioning of the language and start using it consciously.
According to the scientist, his theory explains the high rate of language acquisition by children in all countries. In addition, children often make characteristic mistakes that do not seem logical to adults but are explained by the presence of this universal grammar.
Chomsky’s ideas were revolutionary in linguistics, although many colleagues still disagree with him. However, none of the theories about the process of language learning have been proven yet. Therefore, there is a wide scope for research and discussion in this area.
As for his political views, in 1962, Noam condemned the US war in Vietnam. He publicly opposed it, began to participate in relevant meetings and published an anti-war essay. In 1969, he published the book American Power and the New Mandarins. The book describes his political views, which can be characterized as libertarian socialism. Later, the scholar published many more books on political topics and continued to actively criticize the US government, even accusing it of developing terrorism in the world.
In 1967, Chomsky participated in the formation of an anti-war intellectual collective. Three years later, he traveled to North Vietnam, where he lectured at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology. He also visited refugee camps. In addition, Chomsky justified the Assad regime in Syria and Russia’s occupation of Crimea. Thus, his political views and statements caused no less debate than his linguistic ones.
Personal life
Noam married for the first time in 1949. His chosen one was his childhood friend Carol Schatz. This marriage was happy and lasted 59 years. In 2008, the scientist’s wife died of cancer. The family had two daughters and a son.
In 2014, 85-year-old Chomsky married for the second time. His chosen one was Valeria Wasserman. In the early summer of 2024, she told the press about her husband’s hospitalization in a hospital in Brazil. The year before, he had suffered a severe stroke. The rehabilitation period is still ongoing.