James Matisoff Quotes

James Alan Matisoff is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a noted authority on Tibeto-Burman languages and other languages of mainland Southeast Asia. Wikipedia

✵ 14. July 1937

James Matisoff: 3 quotes 0 likes

Famous James Matisoff Quotes

“I decided to start with the reproductive system, not only because of its prurient interest but also because it seemed like the point of departure for all things.”

James Matisoff

Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman (2003) (p.x)

“There can be no more solemn duty for the comparative linguist than to reconstruct his language family's word for the Supreme Being.”

James Matisoff

"God and the Sino-Tibetan Copula" (1985) (p.4)

“Bilingual humor may be viewed as a relatively benign response to the frustrations inherent in living in such a linguistically and racially heterogeneous region as the hills and valleys of backwoods Southeast Asia.”

James Matisoff

"Lahu bilingual humor" (1969) (p.172)

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