The Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (russian: Институт языкознания Российской академии наук) is a structural unit in the Language and Literature Section of History and Philology Department of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
. This Institute is one of the major centers in the field of
linguistic research
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and is also a center for the
Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics
The Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics (also called the Nostratic School) is a school of linguistics based in Moscow, Russia that is known for its work in . Formerly based at Moscow State University, it is currently centered at the (Institut ...
.
Researchers of the Institute of Linguistics are involved in the study of fundamental linguistic problems as well as in applied linguistic studies of the languages of Russia, the
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
and foreign countries too. These include Romance, Germanic, Celtic, Iranian, Turkic, Mongolian, Finno-Ugriс languages and languages of the Caucasus region, Tropical Africa and South-Eastern Asia.
Great attention is paid to the problems of
linguistic typology
Linguistic typology (or language typology) is a field of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural features to allow their comparison. Its aim is to describe and explain the structural diversity and the co ...
and
comparative and historical linguistics. Much attention is given to the research of
psycholinguistic
Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the interrelation between linguistic factors and psychological aspects. The discipline is mainly concerned with the mechanisms by which language is processed and represented in the mind ...
and
sociolinguistic
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on language. It can overlap with the sociology of l ...
problems (
language situation,
language policy
Language policy is an interdisciplinary academic field. Some scholars such as Joshua Fishman and Ofelia García consider it as part of sociolinguistics. On the other hand, other scholars such as Bernard SpolskyRobert B. Kaplanand Joseph Lo Bianco ...
,
language conflicts) in different regions of the world.
History
The Institute of Linguistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created in 1950 in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
after the so-called “discussion of linguistic issues” during the campaign against the
Marrism (Japhetic theory). The Institute was organized on the basis of the
Institute of the Russian Language of the Academy of Sciences, established in 1944, as a "counterweight" to the Marr Institute of Language and Mind in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the leading center of theoretical language studies in the USSR of that period. The latter in 1952 was reorganized as the Leningrad branch of the Moscow Institute of Linguistics (this situation continued until 1991, when the Leningrad branch was transformed into an independent
Institute for Linguistic Studies
The Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (russian: Институт лингвистических исследований РАН), commonly abbreviated ILS RAS, is a research institution in Saint Petersburg, Russ ...
of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
).
The first Director of the Moscow Institute of Linguistics was
Viktor Vinogradov
Viktor Vladimirovich Vinogradov (russian: Ви́ктор Влади́мирович Виногра́дов; – 4 October 1969) was a Soviet linguist and philologist who presided over Soviet linguistics after World War II.
Life and career
Vin ...
, in 1954 this position was taken by his deputy, Аcademician
Viktor Borkovskiy; Viktor Vinogradov became the Director of a renewed Institute of the Russian Language in 1958. Later Institute of Linguistics was headed by acad.
Boris Serebrennikov (1960—1964), corr.-member
Fedot Filin Fedot, ''Федоt'' is a masculine Russian form of given name Theodotus which may refer to:
* Fedot Alekseyevich Popov (died between 1648 and 1654), Russian explorer
* Fedot Shubin (1740-1805), Russian sculptor
* Fedot Sychkov (1870-1958), Russia ...
(1964—1968), corr.-member
Viktoria Yartseva
Viktoriya Nikolayevna Yartseva (Викто́рия Никола́евна Я́рцева, 1906–1999) was a Russian linguist and director of the Linguistics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences from 1971 to 1977. She specialized in Engli ...
(1968—1977), acad.
Georgiy Stepanov Georgy (; russian: Георгий, Georgiy; bg, Георги, Georgi) is a Slavic masculine given name, derived from the Greek name Georgios. It corresponds to the English name George. The name Georgi is the most used masculine name in Bulgaria and ...
(1977—1986), corr.-member Vadim Solntsev (1986—2000), corr.-member
Viktor Vinogradov
Viktor Vladimirovich Vinogradov (russian: Ви́ктор Влади́мирович Виногра́дов; – 4 October 1969) was a Soviet linguist and philologist who presided over Soviet linguistics after World War II.
Life and career
Vin ...
(2000—2012).
On June 19, 2012,
Vladimir Alpatov became the Director of the Institute of Linguistics, as elected by general meeting of all the researchers of the Institute.
On May 25, 2017,
Andrej Kibrik
Andrej Kibrik (russian: Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Ки́брик; born June 18, 1963) is a Russian linguist, the director of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (since 2017), and professor at the Phil ...
was elected the Director of the Institute of Linguistics by the general meeting of the researchers.
Administration
The Institute is headed by the Direction:
* Director of the Institute — Prof.
Andrej Aleksandrovich Kibrik
* Deputy Director for science — Andrej Vladimirovich Sideltsev, PhD
* Deputy Director for science — Andrey Boleslavovich Shluinsky, PhD
* Deputy Director for general issues — Victor Nikolaevich Perley
* Scientific Secretary — Vladimir Ilyich Karpov, PhD
The Director also presides over the Scientific Council of the Institute.
Structure
The structure of the scientific divisions of the Institute includes one Research Center, 8 Research Departments, the Department for international relations and the Department for the scientific personnel training. In 2002 the Department of Foreign Languages has been included in the structure of the Institute. In 2012 the Psycholinguistics Sector was transformed into the Department of Psycholinguistics comprising the General Psycholinguistics Sector and the Ethnopsycholinguistics Sector.
The Institute's subdivisions:
* Research center for national languages relations
* Department of Theoretical and Applied linguistics
** Theoretical linguistics sector
**
Applied linguistics
Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication rese ...
sector
* Typology and Areal linguistics Department
** Typology sector
**
Areal linguistics Geolinguistics has been identified by some as being a branch of linguistics and by others as being an offshoot of language geography which is further defined in terms of being a branch of human geography. When seen as a branch of linguistics, geolin ...
sector
* Sector of General Comparative-Historical Studies
* Department of Experimental Speech Studies
* Department of
Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the interrelation between linguistic factors and psychological aspects. The discipline is mainly concerned with the mechanisms by which language is processed and represented in the mind ...
** general psycholinguistics sector
** sector of ethnopsycholinguistics
* Department of
Indo-European Languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
** sector of
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, Engli ...
** sector of
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
** sector of
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau.
The Iranian languages are grouped ...
** group of
Anatolian
Anatolian or anatolica may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia
* Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages
* Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational institution
* Anatol ...
and
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
* Department of
Uralic
The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...
and
Altaic Languages
Altaic (; also called Transeurasian) is a controversial proposed language family that would include the Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic and Tungusic languages, Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic la ...
** sector of
Finno-Ugric languages
Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...
* Department of
Caucasian Languages
The Caucasian languages comprise a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than ten million people in and around the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Linguistic comparison allows th ...
** group "
Linguistic Atlas of Europe"
* Department of Southeast Asian Languages
* Department of
African Languages
The languages of Africa are divided into several major language families:
* Niger–Congo or perhaps Atlantic–Congo languages (includes Bantu and non-Bantu, and possibly Mande and others) are spoken in West, Central, Southeast and Southern A ...
* Department of Foreign Languages
* Department for Scientific Personnel Training
There are also a secretariat, an administrative and management apparatus and an economic department.
Directions of scientific research
The Institute’s directions of research include:
* Theory of language, linguistic typology and comparative-historical linguistics;
* Description of the languages of the world, including rare and endangered languages;
* Areal linguistics;
* Sociolinguistics;
* Ethnolinguistics;
* Psycholinguistics;
* History of literary languages;
* Computational linguistics;
* Lexicography;
* Logical analysis of the language;
* Experimental phonetics and semantics;
* Translation theory.
Projects
Researchers of the Institute are involved in the preparation of a multi-volume encyclopaedia "Languages of the World" (14 volumes have already been published). A three-volume encyclopaedia of the languages of Russia and the ex-USSR countries has been published.
Joint international research is conducted in cooperation with scientific institutions of France, the USA, Canada, Spain, Germany, Vietnam and other countries.
The Institute provides practical assistance in the development of literary oral and writing norms for rare and revitalized languages (for example, the
Saami language).
Scientists of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have created the "
Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
", the first edition of which was published in 1990 with Viktoria Yartseva as the chief editor (the 2nd edition, 2002).
Lingvističeskij ènciklopedičeskij slovar' by V. N. Jarceva. Review by: Alexis Manaster Ramer
Language, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Jun., 1997), pp. 397-401. In 1995, the main authors and editors of this encyclopaedia were awarded the State Prize in the field of science and technology.
See also
*Institute for Linguistic Studies
The Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (russian: Институт лингвистических исследований РАН), commonly abbreviated ILS RAS, is a research institution in Saint Petersburg, Russ ...
*Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics
The Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics (also called the Nostratic School) is a school of linguistics based in Moscow, Russia that is known for its work in . Formerly based at Moscow State University, it is currently centered at the (Institut ...
*Evolution of Human Languages
The Evolution of Human Languages (EHL) project is a historical-comparative linguistics research project hosted by the Santa Fe Institute. It aims to provide a detailed genealogical classification of the world's languages.
The project was founded ...
References
External links
Official website
About the Institute of Linguistics
on the R.A.S. website
{{coord missing, Moscow
Research institutes in Russia
Linguistic research institutes
Research institutes in the Soviet Union
Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences