Neilson Voyne Smith FBA (born 1939), known as Neil Smith, is

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Linguistics Linguistics is the science, 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 ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. He wrote his PhD (1964) on the grammar of

Nupe Nupe may refer to: *Nupe people, of Nigeria *Nupe language, their language *The Bida Emirate, also known as the Nupe Kingdom, their former state *A member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African Amer ...

, a language of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Since then his research has encompassed theoretical syntax, language acquisition, the

savant syndrome Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

, and

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

linguistic theory, particularly the work of

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

. In the 1990s he began working with an

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

man, Christopher, in collaboration with Ianthi-Maria Tsimpli. According to Smith and Tsimpli, Christopher has a non-verbal IQ of between 60 and 70, but his English is comparable to that of normal native speakers, and he has an extraordinary ability to learn new languages. Smith was Head of the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at University College London from 1983 to 1990, and headed the Linguistics section from 1972 until his retirement in 2006, when he was presented with a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

''Language in Mind: A Tribute to Neil Smith on the Occasion of his Retirement'' (edited by Robyn Carston, Diane Blakemore and Hans van de Koot).

Honours

Smith was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 1999. He was made an Honorary Member of the

Linguistic Society of America The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...

in 2000.

Selected works

*''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; second edition 2004; third edition, with Nicholas Allott, 2016) *''Language, Bananas and Bonobos: Linguistic Problems, Puzzles and Polemics'' (Blackwell, 2002) *''Language, Frogs and Savants: More Linguistic Problems, Puzzles and Polemics'' (Blackwell, 2005) *''Acquiring Phonology: A Cross-generational Case-study'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010) *''The Signs of a Savant'' (with Gary Morgan, Ianthi-Maria Tsimpli and Bencie Woll) (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

References

External links

Autobiographical article, in LinguistList's famous linguists series
1939 births Living people Linguists from the United Kingdom Fellows of the British Academy Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of University College London Academics of University College London British phonologists {{UK-linguist-stub