1887 – 1949
Leonard Bloomfield (1887-1949) was an American linguist who was a leading figure in structural linguistics and a founder of the Linguistic Society of America. His behaviorist, anti-mentalist approach to language shaped mid-20th-century American linguistics and informed philosophical debates about meaning, reference, and the ontology of linguistic objects.
Authored Language (1933), the defining textbook of American structural linguistics
Co-founded the Linguistic Society of America in 1924
Developed a rigorous behaviorist, anti-mentalist methodology for linguistic analysis
Advanced the comparative study of Algonquian languages
Influenced philosophical debates about nominalism versus platonism regarding linguistic types