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I should
start by admitting which Smith I really am, as people keep blaming me
for not being one of the others. It might also help in bibliographies,
as I have published under several different versions of my name, and am
frequently misidentified.
My full name is Neilson Voyne Smith, but I have also appeared as: 'N.V.
Smith', 'N. Smith', 'Neil Smith', 'Neilson Smith', 'Neilson V. Smith',
and 'Neil V. Smith'. I am not any of the
other innumerable Neil Smiths that people the internet: guitarists,
cricketers, footballers, garage proprietors, kleptomaniacs...nor even
my friend Norval (N.S.H. Smith), whose work I sometimes get credited
with.
I am Professor (Emeritus) of Linguistics, having retired at the end of
September 2006 after 34 years as Head of the Linguistics Section of the
Department. A brief CV can be found here.
My major research themes are in language acquisition, general
linguistic theory, the savant syndrome, the ideas of Noam Chomsky, and
anything else fun (e.g. penguins, dragons, bumblebees). |
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| My
main books are: |
| An
Outline Grammar of Nupe (Luzac, 1967) |
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This was one chapter of
my (1964) PhD thesis and was based on a year's fieldwork among the Nupe
of Northern Nigeria.
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| The
Acquisition of Phonology (CUP, 1973) |
| Modern
Linguisitics: The Results of Chomsky's Revolution (Penguin, 1979;
with Deirdre
Wilson) |
| The
Twitter Machine: Reflections on Language (Blackwell, 1989) |
| The
Mind of a Savant (Blackwell, 1995; with Ianthi Tsimpli) |
| Chomsky:
Ideas and Ideals (CUP, 1999; second edition 2004) |
| Language,
Bananas
and Bonobos: Linguistic Problems, Puzzles and Polemics
(Blackwell, 2002) |
| Language,
Frogs and Savants: More Linguisitic Problems, Puzzles and Polemics
(Blackwell, 2005) |
| These last
two consist largely of updated columns I wrote for the sadly defunct
journal Glot International. |
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| I have also
edited a volume on Mutual Knowledge (Academic Press, 1982)
and with Deirdre
Wilson, two special issues of Lingua devoted to Relevance
Theory. A list of my publications can be found here.
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I am editor
of the international Lingua
and Mind
& Language, and I am on the board of editors of the Cambridge
Studies in Linguistics.
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| A list of PhD students I have supervised
can be found here. |
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| My
current research includes: |
| 1. |
Continued collaboration
with Ianthi Tsimpli
(University of Thessalonika) on the Polyglot
Savant, Christopher. Together with Gary Morgan and Bencie Woll (DCAL), we are writing up a
project, funded by the Leverhulme
Trust, teaching him British Sign Language. |
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| 2. |
Continued collaboration
with Annabel Cormack
on theoretical syntax. For representative examples see the list of
publications. |
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| 3. |
A return to the
acquisition of phonology. In 1973 I published a book about my elder
son's acquisition of phonology, and I have been following the
linguisitc progress of his elder son, Zak. |
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| At UCL I
can often be found in Room 102C, Chandler House, UCL, Wakefield Street, London |
| Alternatively,
you can reach me |
| by email: |
neil@ling.ucl.ac.uk |
| by telephone: |
+44 (0)20 7679 4017 |
| by Fax: |
+44 (0) 20 7383 3262 |
| or by post: |
Professor N.V. Smith,
Research Department of Linguistics,
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
University College London
Chandler House
2 Wakefield Street
London WC1N 1PF
United Kingdom |
Last updated: December 2009 |
