Neil Smith (Linguist)

Neil Smith FBA (actually Neilson Voyne Smith, born 1939 ) is a British linguist and professor emeritus of linguistics at University College London.

His doctoral thesis was in 1964 with the grammar of the language of the Nigerian Nupe. Since then, he conducts research on language syntax, language acquisition, Savant Syndrome, and generally to linguistic theory, the work of Noam Chomsky is a priority.

In the 1990s he worked on in collaboration with Ianthi -Maria Tsimpli with Christopher, an autistic person. According to the data of Smith and Christopher Tsimpli has - in relation to his nonverbal skills - an IQ between 60 and 70, his verbal skills in English, however, is comparable to normal native English speakers. Moreover, he finds it extremely easy to learn new languages.

Smith chaired from 1983 to 1990 the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at University College London, Department of Linguistics stood from 1972 until his retirement in 2006 under his leadership.

Smith is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Publications

• An Outline Grammar of Nupe ( Luzac, 1967)
• The Acquisition of Phonology (Cambridge University Press, 1973 )
• Modern Linguistics: The Results of Chomsky 's Revolution (with Deirdre Wilson, Penguin, 1979)
• The Twitter Machine: Reflections on Language ( Blackwell, 1989)
• The Mind of a Savant (with Ianthi -Maria Tsimpli; Blackwell, 1995)
• Chomsky: Ideas and Ideals (Cambridge University Press, 1999 )
• Language, Bananas and Bonobos: Linguistic problems, puzzles and Polemics ( Blackwell, 2002)