Joshua Fishman (

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

: שיקל פֿישמאַן — Shikl Fishman; July 18, 1926 – March 1, 2015) was an American

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

who specialized in the

sociology of language Sociology of language is the study of the relations between language and society. It is closely related to the field of sociolinguistics, which focuses on the effect of society on language. One of its longest and most prolific practitioners was J ...

language planning In sociolinguistics, language planning (also known as language engineering) is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community.Kaplan B., Robert, and Rich ...

bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The t ...

, and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

Early life and education

Joshua A. Fishman (Yiddish name ''Shikl'') was born and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. His sister was the poet Rukhl Fishman. He attended public schools while also studying

at elementary and secondary levels. As he grew up, his father would ask his children at the dinner table, "What did you do for Yiddish today?" He studied Yiddish in

Workmen's Circle The Workers Circle or Der Arbeter Ring (), formerly The Workmen's Circle, is an American Jews, Jewish nonprofit organization that promotes social and economic justice, Jewish community and education, including Yiddish studies, and Ashkenazi Jews, ...

Schools, which emphasized mastery of the

Yiddish language Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

along with a focus on literature, history, and social issues. He graduated from Olney High School.Kutzik, Jordan (March 4, 2015).
Joshua Fishman, Yiddishist and Linguistics Pioneer, Dies at 88
. ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

''. Retrieved 29 February 2020. He attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

on a Mayor's Scholarship, 1944-1948, earning a B.S. and an M.S.,"Joshua A(aron) Fishman." ''Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors''. Farmington Hills: Gale, 2001. Retrieved via ''Gale In Context: Biography'' database, 29 February 2020. in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, respectively. He went on to get a PhD in social psychology from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1953. He is the father of Monele Fishman, David Fishman and Avi Fishman.

Career

After graduating, he studied Yiddish with Max Weinreich during the summer of 1948. During that time, he received a prize from the

YIVO YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Estab ...

(Institute for Yiddish Research) for a monograph on bilingualism. In 1951-52 he held a position as a research assistant for the Jewish Education Committee of New York. In December 1951, he married Gella Schweid, with whom he shared a lifelong commitment to Yiddish. In 1953, he completed his Ph.D. in

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

with a dissertation entitled ''Negative Stereotypes Concerning Americans among American-born Children Receiving Various Types of Minority-group Education''. From 1955 to 1958, he taught the sociology of language at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

while he was also directing research at the College Entrance Examination Board. In 1958, he was appointed an associate professor of human relations and psychology at Penn. He subsequently accepted a post as professor of psychology and sociology at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

in New York, where he would also serve as dean of the Ferkauf Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities as well as academic vice president. In 1966, he was made Distinguished University Research Professor of Social Sciences. In 1988, he became

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

and became affiliated with a number of other institutions: Visiting Professor and Visiting Scholar, School of Education, Applied Linguistics and Department of Linguistics,

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

; Adjunct Professor of Multilingual and Multicultural Education, School of Education,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

; Visiting Professor of Linguistics,

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, Graduate Center. He has held visiting appointments and fellowships at over a dozen institutions around the world, including the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

(

Stanford, CA Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...

) and the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

(

Princeton, NJ The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

Impact

Fishman wrote over 1000 articles and monographs on

multilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

and minority education, the sociology and history of the

, reversing language shift,

language revival Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...

, 'language and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

', 'language and religion', and 'language and

'. Fishman is the founder and editor of the Contributions to the Sociology of Language book series by

Mouton de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

. Fishman devised the influential Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), used for determining whether languages are endangered, in his book ''Reversing Language Shift''. The Expanded GIDS was based on this and is used by

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

. According to

Ghil'ad Zuckermann Ghil'ad Zuckermann (, ; ) is an Israeli-born language revivalist and linguist who works in contact linguistics, lexicology and the study of language, culture and identity. Zuckermann was awarded the Rubinlicht Prize (2023) "for his researc ...

, "The founder and general editor of the leading refereed publication International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Fishman created an intellectual platform that has greatly facilitated the introduction and dissemination of novel models and revolutionary theories that have led to numerous academic debates, syntheses and cross-fertilizations. He has often acted as an epistemological bridge between, and antidote for, parallel discourses." Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2012). "Introduction to the Joshua A. Fishman comprehensive bibliography", ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'' (Int’l. J. Soc. Lang.) 213 And "One ought to assess the breadth and depth of Fishman’s work through a combined Jewish-sociolinguistic lens." Zuckermann has argued that "Fishman’s research embodies the integration of Jewish scholarship with general linguistics. ..Jewish linguistics, the exploration of Jewish languages such as Yiddish, has shaped general sociolinguistics. Throughout history Jews have been multilingual immigrants, resulting in Jewish languages embodying intricate and intriguing mechanisms of language contact and identity. These languages were thus fertile ground for the establishment and evolution of the sociology of language in general. Given the importance in Judaism not only of mentshlikhkayt (cf. humaneness) but also of education and 'on the other hand' dialectics, it is not surprising to find the self-propelled institute Fishman trailblazing simultaneously both in Yiddish scholarship in particular and in the sociology of language in general."

Special honors

In 1991, Fishman was honored by two

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

en, publications to celebrate his 65th birthday, each filled with articles by colleagues that followed his interests. One was a three volume collection of articles concerned with his interests, edited by Garcia, Dow, and Marshall, the other a single volume edited by Cooper and Spolsky. In 1999, Fishman received the

Itzik Manger Prize The Itzik Manger Prize for outstanding contributions to Yiddish literature (, ) was established in 1968, shortly before Itzik Manger's death in 1969. Manger "was and remains one of the best-known twentieth-century Yiddish poets." The Prize has bee ...

for contributions to Yiddish letters. In 2004, he was awarded the Linguapax Prize. He was also named "an honorary member of the Royal Academy of the Basque Language." On September 10, 2006, Fishman was honored by a one-day symposium at the

, commemorating his 80th birthday. He died in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York, on March 1, 2015, at the age of 88.

Bibliography

* 1964. ''Language Maintenance and Language Shift as a field of inquiry. A definition of the field and suggestions for its further development''. Linguistics Vol 2, Issue 9. *1965. ''Yiddish in America: socio-linguistic description and analysis.'' Bloomington:

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

; The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton * 1966. ''Language loyalty in the United States; the maintenance and perpetuation of non-English mother tongues by American ethnic and religious groups.'' The Hague: Mouton * 1966. ''Hungarian language maintenance in the United States.'' Bloomington:

* 1968. ''Language problems of developing nations.'' New York: Wiley * 1968. ''Readings in the sociology of language.'' The Hague, Paris: Mouton * 1970. ''Sociolinguistics: a brief introduction.'' Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House * 1971. ''Bilingualism in the barrio.'' Bloomington:

* 1971-2. ''Advances in the sociology of language.'' The Hague: Mouton * 1972. ''Language in Sociocultural Change. Essays by Joshua A. Fishman.'' Ed. Anwar S. Dil. Stanford:

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It is currently a member of the Ass ...

* 1972. ''The sociology of language; an interdisciplinary social science approach to language in society.'' Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House * 1973 (c 1972). ''Language and nationalism; two integrative essays.'' Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House * 1974. ''Advances in language planning.'' The Hague: Mouton * 1976. ''Bilingual education: an international sociological perspective.'' Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House * 1977. ''Advances in the creation and revision of writing systems.'' The Hague: Mouton * 1978. ''Advances in the study of societal multilingualism.'' The Hague: Mouton * 1981. ''Never Say Die: A Thousand Years of Yiddish in Jewish Life and Letters''. The Hague: Mouton. (in Yiddish and English) * 1982. ''The acquisition of biliteracy: a comparative ethnography of minority ethnolinguistic schools in New York City.'' New York, N.Y.: Yeshiva University, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology * 1982. ''Bilingual education for Hispanic students in the United States.'' New York:

Teachers College Press Teachers College Press is the university press of Teachers College, Columbia University. Founded in 1904, Teachers College Press has published professional and classroom materials for over a century and currently publishes 70 titles per year. Hi ...

* 1983. ''Progress in language planning: international perspectives.'' Berlin & New York: Mouton. * 1985. ''The rise and fall of the ethnic revival: perspectives on language and ethnicity.'' Berlin & New York: Mouton * 1987. ''Ideology, Society and Language: The Odyssey of Nathan Birnbaum.'' Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers * 1991. ''Bilingual education.'' Amsterdam & Philadelphia: J. Benjamins Pub. Co * 1991. ''Reversing language Shift: Theory and Practice of Assistance to Threatened Languages.'' Clevedon, Multilingual Matters. () * 1991. ''Language and Ethnicity.'' Amsterdam & Philadelphia: J. Benjamins Pub. Co * 1996. ''Post-Imperial English: The Status of English in Former British and American Colonies and Spheres of Influence.'' (ed.) Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin * 1997. ''In Praise of the Beloved Language; The Content of Positive Ethnolinguistic Consciousness.'' Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter * 1997. ''The Multilingual Apple: Languages in New York'' (with Ofelia Garcia). Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter * 1999. ''Handbook of Language and Ethnicity'' (ed.). New York,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Revised ed. 2009. () * 2000. ''Can Threatened Languages Be Saved?'' Clevedon, Multilingual Matters * 2006. ''Do Not Leave Your Language Alone: The Hidden Status Agendas Within Corpus Planning in Language Policy.''

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 Research and Dovepress. It is a division of I ...

. () ()

Sources

* Baker, Colin; Jones, Sylvia P. (eds.) (1998). ''Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education''. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. "Joshua A. Fishman", p. 189. . * Chassie, Karen et al. (eds.) (2006). ''Who’s Who in the East''. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who. "Fishman, Joshua Aaron" * Cooper, Robert L.; Spolsky, Bernard (eds.) (1991). ''The Influence of Language on Culture and Thought: Essays in Honor of Joshua A. Fishman’s Sixty-Fifth Birthday''. Berlin: Mouton. Editors' introduction, pp. 1–5. * Fishman, Joshua A. (2006). Joshua A. Fishman. Retrieved on August 24, 2006 from http://www.joshuaafishman.com * Fishman, Gella Schweid; Njau, Charity (2012). "Joshua A. Fishman bibliography (1949-2011)". ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'' 213: 153–248. * García, Ofelia; Dow, James R.; Marshall, David F. (eds.) (1991). ''Essays in honor of Joshua A. Fishman'': Volume 1: Focus on Bilingual Education; Volume 2: Focus on Language and Ethnicity; Volume 3: Focus on Language Planning. 3 Volumes (set). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. In vol. 1: Ofelia García, "A Gathering of Voices, a 'Legion of Scholarly Decency' and Bilingual Education: Fishman's Biographemes as Introduction", pp. 3–19; in vol. 2: Editor's introduction, pp. 1–7; in vol. 3: David F. Marshall, "Introduction: To Honor a Man and His Calling", pp. 1–6, and Karen L. Adams and Daniel T. Brink, "Joshua A. Fishman on Language Planning: 'Brotherhood' Does Not Mean Uniformity", pp. 7–27. * * Spolsky, Bernard (1999). "Fishman, Joshua A. (1926– )". In Spolsky (ed.), ''Concise Encyclopedia of Educational Linguistics''. Amsterdam:

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

. p. 758-759. .

References

External links

Symposium in Honor of Joshua A. Fishman's Eightieth Birthday
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fishman, Joshua Jewish American scientists American sociolinguists Linguists of Yiddish Scholars of nationalism University of Pennsylvania alumni Columbia University alumni Scientists from Philadelphia 1926 births 2015 deaths 21st-century American Jews Itzik Manger Prize recipients People from Philadelphia People from the Bronx Advocates for bilingual education