University of Southern California
USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Edward FineganProfessor Emeritus of Linguistics and LawContact Information E-mail: Finegan@USC.edu Phone: (213) 740-3876 Office: GFS 302A LINKS Curriculum Vitae |
Biographical Sketch |
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| Ed Finegan began his career teaching mathematics on Long Island. He then taught English and English linguistics at Ohio University and Case Western Reserve University while completing his Ph.D. He joined the USC faculty in 1968 and later served as founding chair of USC's Linguistics Department. In 1975 and 1976, he directed a USC English-language teaching project for National Iranian Radio and Television in Tehran. Besides a focus on discourse analysis and the discourses of law, his research addresses language variation and English usage, including their treatment in dictionaries. He has contributed chapters on usage and grammar to the Cambridge History of the English Language and on North American English to A History of the English Language (Cambridge). He is author of Attitudes toward English Usage: The History of a War of Words (Teachers College Press, Columbia University) and co-editor of Language in the USA (Cambridge) and of Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Register (Oxford). His introductory textbook Language: Its Structure and Use (Wadsworth/Cengage) appeared in its sixth edition in 2012. He served as founding general editor of Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics and on the editorial boards of the journals American Speech, Discourse Processes, English Language and Linguistics, and Corpora. He is a member of the advisory board to USC’s Levan Institute for the Humanities and Ethics and is the Dictionary Society of North America's delegate to the American Council of Learned Societies. In 2011, he was elected vice-president of the International Association of Forensic Linguists and will serve as its president starting in 2013. Principally concerning linguistic aspects of contract interpretation, defamation, and trademark infringement, he has consulted for scores of law firms in more than a dozen states, as well as for the offices of the Federal Public Defender and the California Attorney General. He served three times as president of the USC chapter of Phi Kappa Phi and for two years as co-president of USC's Lambda Alumni Association. He is the recipient of USC's Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching and has been twice honored by USC College with the Albert S. Raubenheimer Distinguished Faculty Award. He currently serves as director of USC's Center for Excellence in Teaching. | |
Education |
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 Ph.D. , Ohio University, 1968
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M.A. , Ohio University, 1964
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B.S. , Iona College, 1962
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Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History |
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Tenure Track Appointments |
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Professor of Linguistics and Law, University of Southern California, 09/1996-
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Visiting and Temporary Appointments |
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American Dialect Society Professor of Linguistics, Stanford University, 06/2007-07/2007
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Visiting Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 06/2001-08/2001
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Visiting Professor of English, University of Zurich,
Spring
1998
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Language Learning Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, Universidad de las Americas-Puebla, 10/1995
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Fellow in Law and Linguistics, Harvard University Law School, 1988-1989
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Description of Research |
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Summary Statement of Research Interests |
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| Professor Finegan researches language variation and change, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and corpus linguistics. With long-standing interests in language attitudes and language in the public domain, his current research projects include investigation of the relationship between register variation and social dialect variation and of the history of attitudes toward language correctness. Also a professor at USC's Law School, Professor Finegan specializes in legal writing and serves as a consultant to many publishing houses and law firms. | |
Publications |
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Book |
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Finegan, E.
(2007).
Language: Its Structure and Use, 5th edition. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth.
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Frommer, P. R., Finegan, E.
(2007).
Looking at Languages, 4th ed. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth.
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Edward Finegan and John R. Rickford (Ed.).
(2004).
Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., Finegan, E.
(1999).
Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow, Essex: Longman.
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Douglas Biber and Edward Finegan (Ed.).
(1994).
Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Register. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Book Chapter |
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Finegan, E.
(2009).
"English" In: The World's Major Languages, 2nd ed. pp. 59-85. London/New York: Routledge.
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Finegan, E.
(2006).
"English in North America". pp. 384-419. Cambridge, UK: A History of the English Language/Cambridge University Press.
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Finegan, E.
(2005).
"The Possibilities and Limits of Corpus Linguistic Description/Möglichkeiten und Grenzen korpuslinguistischer Beschreibung" In: Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society/Ein Internationales Handbuch Zur Wissenschaft Von Sprache Und Gesellschaft. 2nd. pp. 1095-1103. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
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Finegan, E.
(2001).
"Usage" In: English in North America, The Cambridge History of the English Language 6. (Vol. 6). pp. 358-421. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Finegan, E., Biber, D.
(2001).
"Register Variation and Social Dialect Variation: The Register Axiom," In: Style and Sociolinguistic Variation, Penelope Eckert and John R. Rickford, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2001. pp. 235-67. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Finegan, E.
(1998).
"English Grammar and Usage" In: Cambridge History of the English Language 4. (Vol. 4). pp. 536-588. Cambridge.
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Book Review |
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Finegan, E.
(2009).
Practical Lexicography: A Reader, ed. by Thierry Fontenelle. Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. pp. 136-139.
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Encyclopedia Article |
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Finegan, E.
(2003).
"English" In: Oxford International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. (William Frawley, Ed.). 2nd.. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Journal Article |
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Finegan, E.
(2009).
Expert linguists and the whole truth. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law.
Vol. XVI
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Honors and Awards |
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Phi Kappa Phi Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009-2010
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USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 2003-2004
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USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, General Education Teaching Award, 2000-2001
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Phi Kappa Phi Diploma of Honor, 1997-1998
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USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 1980-1981
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USC Associates Award For Excellence In Teaching, 1979-1980
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Service to the Profession |
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Committees |
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Member, Undergraduate Programs Advisory Committee, Linguistic Society of America, 01/2008-08/2009
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Member, Advisory to Programs Committee, Linguistic Society of America, 01/2007-08/2009
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Editorships and Editorial Boards |
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Editorial Board Member, Corpora Journal, 2004-
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Member, Editorial Board, Journal of English Language and Linguistics, 1996-2006
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General Editor, Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics, 1988-2002
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Member, Editorial Board, Discourse Processes, 1983-2002
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Member, Editorial Board, American Speech, 1985-1988
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Professional Offices |
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Member, Executive Board, Dictionary Society of North America, 06/2007-
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Delegate to the American Council of Learned Societies, Dictionary Society of North America, 2010-2014
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Professional Memberships |
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Dictionary Society of North America, 01/1998-
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International Association of Forensic Linguists, 01/1998-
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American Dialect Society, 01/1964-
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International Linguistics Association, 01/1964-
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Linguistic Society of America, 01/1964-
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Media, Alumni, and Community Relations |
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Co-President, USC Lambda Alumni Association, 1998-2000
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