Skousen, Royal
Dates
- Existence: 1945-
Biography
Royal Skousen (1945- ) is a professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University, as well as editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. He is the founder of the Analogical Modeling approach to language modeling.
Royal Jon Skousen, son of LeRoy Bentley Skousen and Helen Louise McCarty, was born on August 5, 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest of ten children. He graduated from Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon. When he was 19, his father unexpectedly died of lung cancer. Royal went on to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Finland from 1965 to 1967. After his return in 1968, he married Sirkku Unelma Härkönen; they moved to Orem, Utah and raised seven children together. Meanwhile, Royal received further education in the form of a BA from BYU in English and math. He earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1972, then worked as an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of Texas-Austin until 1979, when he was hired by BYU. He was also a visiting professor at the University of California-San Diego in 1981, a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Tampere (Finland) in 1982, and a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (Nijmegen, Netherlands) in 2001. In 1999, he was awarded BYU's Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Research and Creative Arts distinction. Since then he has served as the president of the Utah Association of Scholars, as well as associate editor of the Journal of Quantitative Linguistics since 2003.
Skousen's work in linguistics has dealt chiefly with developing a theory of language called Analogical Modeling, a theory that predicts language behavior by means of examples rather than by rules. He has published three books on this subject: Analogical Modeling of Language (1989), Analogy and Structure (1992), and Analogical Modeling: An Exemplar-Based Approach to Language (2002). More recently, he has published on the quantum computation of Analogical Modeling, notably in his 2005 paper "Quantum Analogical Modeling" (available at www.arXiv.org). Skousen began working on the critical text of the Book of Mormon in 1988. This work represents the central task of the Critical Text Project, to restore by scholarly means the original text of the Book of Mormon, to the extent possible. To date, he has published 9 books on the subject, with 4 more to appear in the next three years. Altogether, up through 2013, he has given 94 presentations and written/published 14 books, 70 articles, and 23 online and media publications. He lives in Spanish Fork with his wife Sirkku and continues to teach and lecture.
Citation:
Wikipedia, accessed January 10, 2014 (parents LeRoy Bentley Skousen, Helen Louise McCarty; born August 5, 1945, in Cleveland, Ohio, oldest of ten children; graduated Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon; when 19, father died of lung cancer; served LDS mission in Finland, 1965-1967; married Sirkku Unelma Härkönen, 1968; moved to Orem, Utah, seven children; BA in English and math, BYU; Ph.D. in linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1972; assistant professor linguistics, University of Texas-Austin until 1979, then hired by BYU; visiting professor, University of California-San Diego, 1981; Fulbright lecturer, University of Tampere, in 1982; research fellow, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics , 2001; 1999, given BYU's Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Research and Creative Arts Award; president of the Utah Association of Scholars, 1999-present; associate editor, Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 2003-present) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_SkousenBYU Linguistics directory, accessed January 13, 2014 (linguistic emphasis Analogical Modeling, three books: Analogical Modeling of Language (1989), Analogy and Structure (1992), and Analogical Modeling: An Exemplar-Based Approach to Language (2002); worked on quantum computation of Analogical Modeling, published 2005 paper "Quantum Analogical Modeling"; since 1988, focus on Book of Mormon Critical Text Project; 9 volumes published). http://linguistics.byu.edu/directory/rjs4/,
BYU Linguistics, accessed January 13, 2014 (9 books published on Book of Mormon Critical Text Project 2001-2013, 4 to be published 2015-2017; [through 2013] 94 presentations, 14 books, 70 articles, and 23 online and media publications) http://linguistics.byu.edu/static/documents/cv/Skousen_2014_1.pdf,
Found in 10 Collections and/or Records:
Royal Skousen correspondence and publicity on Book of Mormon, 1996-2008
Contains materials pertaining to the linguistic work of Royal Skousen, a professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Particularly correspondence with Skousen's linguistic and other professional colleagues (including sharing of articles), as well as symposium publications and distribution, press releases, travel files, and newspaper excerpts. Materials dated 1996-2008.
Royal Skousen materials for History of the Text of the Book of Mormon: King James quotations in the Book of Mormon, 2005-2019
Contains materials related to the publication of Part 5 of Volume 3 of Skousen's Book of Mormon Critical Text Project series; includes printed signatures, proofs and corrections, PDFs, introduction material, topical sections, collation and sorting files, etc. Materials dated 2005-2019.
Royal Skousen papers on Book of Mormon and Critical Text Project, 1981-2020
Consists of manuscript drafts, photocopies of research material, correspondence, articles, reviews, and presentations, publicity, variant searches and hour logs, other authors' books and articles on the Book of Mormon, photographs of the original Book of Mormon manuscript, and publication materials for volumes 3 and 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project series. Materials dated 1981-2020.
Royal Skousen papers on colleague works, 1981-2009
Contains manuscripts for Book of Mormon-related books, articles, and other material written by colleagues of Royal Skousen, notably Grant Hardy, Paul Ingham Lineback, and Robert Smith. This includes manuscripts and typescripts, correspondence, reviews, lectures (including corresponding sheet music and artwork), spiral-bound copies, memorandums, lists of errors and corrections, notes, and diagrams. Materials dated 1981-2009.
Royal Skousen papers on Critical Text Project, 1986-2014
Royal Skousen papers on student hiring and research assistants, 1995-1999
Contains materials pertaining to the linguistic work of Royal Skousen, a professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Particularly, hiring and research time files for student Matt Empey, Skousen's daughter Christina, and other student and assistant researchers, including correspondence and campus memos, timecards, work authorizations, and research notes (reference checks, spelling variants). Materials dated 1995-1999.
Royal Skousen papers on Yale Edition, 2008-2014
Contains proofs of 9 revisions (1, 3.1-3.3, 4, 6, 8/9, 10, and 11) of Skousen's book "The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text" (printed by Yale University Press, hence the nickname of "Yale Edition"), as well as proofs of the 1st and 2nd printings. Also included are a page layout chart, corrections, and memorandums. Materials dated 2008-2014.
Royal Skousen personal papers, 1977-2001
Royal Skousen research on Bible versions, 1993-1994
Contains research on version of the Bible (mostly in the form of photocopied excerpts from versions published between 1611 and 1979), including printouts of Isaiah quotations in the Book of Mormon, card catalog notes and printouts of Bible call numbers, and research schedules. Materials dated 1993-1994.
Royal Skousen research on Book of Mormon editions, approximately 2000-2010
Contains materials pertaining to the linguistic work of Royal Skousen, professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In particular are photocopies of pages from editions of the Book of Mormon published between 1837 and 1990 (including Reorganized Church versions), extra and undated/miscellaneous pages, articles and charts on kinds of textual changes, scribes, transcription symbols, notes, and correspondence. Materials dated approximately 2000-2010.
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