Prizes Awarded by the Linguistic Society of America

Leonard Bloomfield Book Award

First presented in 1992, this award was established to recognize the volume which makes the most outstanding contribution to the development of our understanding of language and linguistics.

Frequency

Biennial in even-numbered years

Next Nomination Deadline

1 March 2005

2006 Bloomfield Book Award Nomination Form (pdf)

Eligibility:

• Author(s) must be LSA member(s)
• Book must be published after 28 February 2001 and before 1 March 2003
• Send four copies to the LSA Secretariat by the deadline.

Criteria:

• Novelty (says something that is not part of the published literature)
  
• Empirical Import (claims made are empirically falsifiable)
  
• Conceptual Significance (enriches overall understanding of the nature of human language)
  
• Clarity (points are clearly formulated; text is reader-friendly)

Previous Winners

• 1992 Keren Rice, A grammar of Slave (Mouton de Gruyter)
• 1994 Johanna Nichols, Linguistic diversity in space and time (University of Chicago Press)
• 1996 William Labov, Principals of linguistic change: Internal factors (Blackwell Publishers)
• 1998 Alice C. Harris and Lyle Campbell, Historical syntax in cross-linguistic perspective (Cambridge University Press)
• 2000 Lyle Campbell, American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America (Oxford University Press)
• 2002 Marianne Mithun, The languages of native North America (Cambridge University Press)
• 2004 Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Cambridge University Press)

Linguistics, Language, and the Public Interest Award

First presented in 1997, this award was established to recognize individuals engaged in on-going efforts to educate the public about linguistics and language.

Frequency

Biennial in odd-numbered years

Next Nomination Deadline

1 March 2004

Eligibility

• Works in any medium are eligible, e.g. books, documentary films, articles in popular magazines, software, or lecture series.
  
• Works must have been published, presented, or aired between December 1997 and December 2001. Note: Because a work is eligible for four years and the award is biennial, a work could be considered in two award cycles.
  
• Send four copies to the Secretariat by the deadline.

Criteria

• Nominations must include evidence of the work's impact.

Previous Winners

• 1997 Steven Pinker, author of The language instinct (William Morrow, 1994)
• 1999 Eugene Searchinger, producer of The human language, a public television series of three films distributed in 1995
• 2001 Geoffrey Nunberg, commentator on the NPR program Fresh Air
• 2003 John Rickford, co- author of Spoken soul (John Wiley, 2000) and author of substantive contributions to discussions surrounding Ebonics and AAVE

Kenneth L. Hale Award

First presented in 2002, the award recognizes outstanding linguistic scholarship that documents a particular endangered or no longer spoken language or language family.

Frequency

When appropiate

Next Nomination Deadline

1 April of any year

Eligibility

• Works should normally be no more than 15-20 years old.
  
• Nominations must be accompanied by a copy of the work and any other supporting material.
  

Previous Winners

• 2002 Ives Goddard and Kathleen Bragdon, Native writings in Massachusett (APS, 1988)

Victoria A. Fromkin Prize for Distinguished Service

First presented in 2001, the prize was established to recognize individuals who have performed extraordinary service to the Society and the discipline.

Frequency

When appropriate

Next Nomination Deadline

1 September of any year

Eligibility

• Nominated by an LSA member

• Nominations must be accompanied by an endorsement letter outlining why the individual should be recognized and a brief citation that can be read at the presentation of the prize.

Previous Winners

• 2001 Paul Chapin, for his support of colleagues and the discipline in his role as Linguistics Program Director at NSF for over 30 years
• 2002 Kathleen Fenton, for her professional contributions to the editing of the journal Language for the last 30 years
• 2003 Anthony Aristar and Helen Dry, for establishing LinguistList
• 2004 Eugene Nida, who has not only been a member of the Society for over 60 years but who has served as Vice President (1960) and President (1968) and as financial/investment advisor for more than 30 years

Nominations for all of the awards should be sent to: Linguistic Society of America, 1325 18th St., NW, Suite 211, Washington, DC 20036-6501 by the deadlines indicated. Please contact the LSA with any questions: 202-835-1714; 202-835-1717 (fax); lsa@lsadc.org.