Carlota S. Smith
Carlota Smith was an American linguist. She was professor of linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin for 38 years.
Smith received her M.A. and Ph.D. in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, studying under Zellig Harris. In 1969, she joined the faculty of the Department of Linguistics at University of Texas at Austin, where she served for the remainder of her life. She was department chair from 1981-1985. She was named the Dallas TACA Centennial Professor in the Humanities in 1991.
During her long career, she made important contributions to three areas of linguistic research. Her early work examined English syntax and child language acquisition. She wrote a number of papers and a widely cited book on grammatical aspect. A final research interest involved the analysis of discourse units above the level of the sentence, which she categorizes, in Smith into five ‘discourse modes’.
She spent many years doing linguistic research on Navajo and became a member of the Navajo Language Academy.
Smith received her M.A. and Ph.D. in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, studying under Zellig Harris. In 1969, she joined the faculty of the Department of Linguistics at University of Texas at Austin, where she served for the remainder of her life. She was department chair from 1981-1985. She was named the Dallas TACA Centennial Professor in the Humanities in 1991.
During her long career, she made important contributions to three areas of linguistic research. Her early work examined English syntax and child language acquisition. She wrote a number of papers and a widely cited book on grammatical aspect. A final research interest involved the analysis of discourse units above the level of the sentence, which she categorizes, in Smith into five ‘discourse modes’.
She spent many years doing linguistic research on Navajo and became a member of the Navajo Language Academy.
