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 consulting papers, 1978-1986
Contains materials accumulated while Skousen was doing linguistic research as a consultant for Houghton Mifflin, Weidner Communications, Satellite Software International, and ITT, on topics such as English spelling and spelling reform, syllabification, verb types, and English phonemes. Materials dated 1978-1986.
Royal Skousen correspondence on linguistics, 1968-1995
Contains materials pertaining to the linguistic work of Royal Skousen, a professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In particular, contains correspondence between Skousen and several of his colleagues in the field of linguistics and textual criticism. Materials dated 1968-1995.
Royal Skousen editorship papers, 1993-1999
Contains materials pertaining to the linguistic work of Royal Skousen, professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Contains files accumulated while Skousen served on the editorial board of the "Journal of Quantitative Linguistics" and "Computers and the Humanities," including correspondence, article printouts, pamphlets, contributor notes, and some periodical copies. Materials dated 1993-1999.
Royal Skousen general professional papers, 1951-2014
Royal Skousen oversize materials, 1962-2014
Contains primarily (by bulk) examples of spelling errors (including some original documents and some photocopies, sometimes both) demonstrated by Skousen's children and wife, himself, his students or colleagues, and his neighbors/friends/ward members. It also contains oversize proofs from the O and P manuscripts (Critical Text Project), including introductory material and photo plate drafts. Materials dated 1962-2014.
Royal Skousen papers on book research and writing, 1973-2010
Royal Skousen papers on early life and education, 1972-2015
Contains Skousen's curriculum vitae, as well as a copy of his doctoral dissertation, "Substantive Evidence for Morphological and Phonetic Regularities in Phonology," from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1972, and its corresponding publication file. Materials dated 1972-2015.
Royal Skousen papers on linguistic career, 1951-2015
Royal Skousen publications and creative works, 1967-2012
Contains materials pertaining to the linguistic work of Royal Skousen, professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In particular are other major linguistic compositions of Skousen not related to the Book of Mormon, including unpublished works: presentations, articles, reviews, online publications, research proposals, humorous works, and poetry, spanning the majority of Skousen's linguistic career. Materials dated 1967-2012.
Royal Skousen papers
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- English language -- Orthography and spelling 3
- Letters 3
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