Book Description

The volume contains the texts of interviews realized with three linguists: the late Andre-Georges Haudricourt (1911-1996), Henry M. Hoenigswald (born in 1915) and Robert H. Robins (born in 1921). The book has a twofold objective: on the one hand, its goal is to bring together a number of "inside" testimonies on fundamental issues in linguistics; on the other hand, it is intended to provide a personalized documentation which is particularly relevant for a historiography of linguistics that does not limit itself to published sources. The issues addressed in these interviews concern the status of linguistics (and more particularly the relationship between the study of languages and history), the fundamental aims of the study of language, and the scientific and humanitarian status of linguistics. The three interviews also shed light on the intellectual itinerary of the three linguists and on the developments which took place in the linguistic landscape during the past 65 years. The three interviews are supplemented with useful bibliographical notes. The preface informs about the state of the art in the "oral archiving" of linguistics.