Elisabeth Leinfellner | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Elisabeth Leinfellner (1938-10-14)October 14, 1938 |
| Died | January 4, 2010(2010-01-04) (aged 71) |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Known for | Linguistics Philosophy |
| Awards | Austrian Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the province of Lower Austria for Science and Art |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Linguistics Philosophy |
| Institutions | University of Vienna University of Nebraska–Lincoln |
Elisebeth Leinfellner (October 14, 1938 – January 4, 2010) was professor inlinguistics at theUniversity of Vienna, Department ofLinguistics.[1] She moved to the United States in 1967, and taught atDoane College inCrete,Nebraska, and at theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is notable for her contributions tolinguistics andphilosophy.[2][3] She received theAustrian Grand Decoration of Honour for services to the province ofLower Austria for Science and Art.[1][3] She co-founded theAustrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society andInternational Wittgenstein Symposium.[3][4]
Elisabeth Leinfellner studied linguistics at theUniversity of Vienna andUniversity of Munich and worked as a freelance "copy editor." She moved toLincoln,Nebraska, and taught atDoane College inCrete, Nebraska and at theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln. In 1975, she cofounded theInternational Wittgenstein Symposium of theAustrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society (ALWS).[3][5]
In 1986, she returned to Austria and 1990 she obtainedhabilitation qualification at the Institute of Linguistics of the University of Vienna with a thesis on semantic networks and context. From 1994-1997 she served as president of ALWS and was vice president from 1997 to 2010. She was on the editorial committee of the new publication series of the ALWS and the reports of the ALWS.[3][5]
She had visiting professorships at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1992, at theUniversity of Michigan (1997 Max Kade Distinguished Visiting Professor) inAnn Arbor,Michigan, and theUniversity of Rome II in 1999.[3][5][6]
Starting in 1996, she organized for theIndiana University of Pennsylvania - Honors College with the University of Vienna and sponsored students.[6][7] In 1999, she became a member of program committee for the Summer School at theInstitute Vienna Circle of the University of Vienna.[3][5]
In 1960, she marriedWerner Leinfellner and they had one daughter Ruth. She died in a Vienna hospital on January 4, 2010, and her husband Werner followed her in death three months later on April 6, 2010.[3][8][9]
Although she was trained as a linguist, she had deep interests in philosophical questions. Her research interests were both broad and deep including political language,philosophy of language (especiallyFritz Mauthner andLudwig Wittgenstein),semantic networks andcognitive semantics, political and feminist critique of language,rhetoric andargumentation theory, the application of linguistics to the language of literature, and evolutionary mechanisms of the language development. In particular, she focused on Ludwig Wittgenstein and the philosopher and writer Fritz Mauthner. However, she also published on causality and language, onHabermas’ theory of communicative competence from a linguistic point of view and onWilliam Ockham’s andFranz Brentano’s work on semantics. Her book on euphemism in political language (Der Euphemismus in der politischen Sprache) is particular important. She also drew attention to texts and their meanings as evolutionary systems.[1][3][5]
Her research was intertwined with Werner Leinfellner’s with whom she co-authored publications, most notably a book on ontology, systems theory and semantics (Ontologie, Systemtheorie und Semantik). This comprehensive book is an original attempt to connect the traditional philosophical field ofontology with a cognitive-recursivesemantics. It reflects their broad knowledge in different academic areas as well as their abilities to synthesize ideas. Their book bridges the gap between ordinary language and the language of theories. It demonstrates that both are governed by the same semantic regularities.[1][3]
