Charles A. Ferguson

Charles Albert Ferguson ( born July 6, 1921 in Philadelphia, † 2 September 1998 in Palo Alto ) was a linguist who taught most recently at Stanford University. He is considered one of the founders of sociolinguistics and is best known for his essay on diglossia (1959).

Life

Charles Albert Ferguson was born in Philadelphia. He studied Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His doctoral thesis, which he finished in 1945, he wrote about Bengali vernacular. After graduation he worked from 1946-1955 at the Foreign Service Institute in Beirut. In the 50 years he taught at Harvard University and at other universities. He left Harvard in 1959 and founded the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC After he had left the center in 1967, he founded the later Department of Linguistics at Stanford University.

Theory

Nations profiles

A profile refers to nations as part of the sociolinguistics of Ferguson, the description of the various sociolects in a country. Languages ​​can generally be according to their function in the communication process describe. Here, the languages ​​are described on the configuration, status and function in different societies.

Extension

Charles Ferguson (1968 ) divided languages ​​in their development ( language development ) in 4 (successive ) stages:

Status

Further subdivided Charles Ferguson (1966 ) the languages ​​of the nation in 3 categories: