Keith Allan, FAHA (born 27 March 1943) is an Australian

linguist 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 ...

and Emeritus Professor at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

. Allan sees language as a form of social interactive behaviour and believes this to be an important consideration in any thorough account of meaning in

natural language In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languages ...

. While he is interested in all aspects of meaning in language, his main interests are

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy Philosophy (f ...

pragmatics In linguistics and related fields, pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the int ...

, linguistic meta-theory and the history and philosophy of

linguistics 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 ...

Biography

Early life

After schooling in London, Allan went to do drama at

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, but once there, took up linguistics instead, receiving a BA (Hons) in 1964. From Leeds, he went to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and then to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

as a research associate where he completed an

MLitt The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...

in 1970. After three years as a lecturer in the English language at

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...

in Nigeria, he returned to the UK as a lecturer in linguistics at the University of Essex. Then after three more years at the

University of Nairobi , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

in Kenya, he signed up for a doctorate at Edinburgh on NP countability, receiving his PhD in 1978. He arrived at

in 1978, where – but for a year in Tucson at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

and a few odd months elsewhere – he has stayed until his retirement in 2011.

Career

Currently the co-editor of ''

Australian Journal of Linguistics The ''Australian Journal of Linguistics'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of linguistics established in 1981. It is the official journal of the Australian Linguistic Society and is published by Routledge. Its main focus ...

'' with

Jean Mulder Jean Mulder is a linguist. Mulder's research interests include Australian English and Tsimshian, a North American Indian language. Mulder is currently an Honorary Senior Fellow in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Melbourne, hav ...

, Allan has published articles in refereed journals, books and conference proceedings. He was semantics editor for both editions of the ''International Encyclopedia of Linguistics'', as well as section editor for "Logical and Lexical Semantics" in the ''Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics''. He also edited the 2001 and 2006 conference proceedings for the Australian Linguistic Society. In 2003, Allan received the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

"For service to Australian society and the humanities in linguistics and philology". In the early years of

Open Learning Australia Open Universities Australia (OUA) is an online higher education organisation based in Australia. The organisation was previously known as the Open Learning Agency of Australia. The chairman is Professor Bruce S. Dowton and the chief executive ...

, Allan helped develop some

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

modules at both undergraduate and MA level. At this time too, he made significant contributions to the distance education modules for the MA in

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 ...

at Monash University, revising several modules in later years for online delivery.

Selected publications

Journal articles

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Books

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References

External links

Monash University Staff Page
http://users.monash.edu.au/~kallan/homepage.html ersonal page {{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Keith Linguists from Australia Semanticists Linguistics journal editors 1943 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh