Paul Baker (linguist)

Paul Baker (born 1972) is a professor and British linguist at the Department of Linguistics and English Language of Lancaster University, United Kingdom.[1] His research focuses on corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, corpus-assisted discourse studies and language and identity. He is renowned for his research on the language of Polari.[2] He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts.

Paul Baker
Born (1972-05-23) 23 May 1972
Lancaster, United Kingdom
Known for
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society (2017)
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisPolari - The Lost Language of Gay Men
Academic work
DisciplineLinguist
Sub-discipline
Institutions
WebsiteBaker on the website of Lancaster University

Career

On 8 November 2003, Scott Simon interviewed Baker on the language of Polari on the National Public Radio.[3]

Since its creation in 2006, Baker has been the commissioning editor of the journal Corpora.

On 24 May 2010, Baker's article, Polari, a vibrant language born out of prejudice, was published in The Guardian on the language of Polari. Baker said that "I love Polari, but hopefully, the narrow-minded social conditions that led to its creation will never require anything like it to happen in this country again."[4]

In an article, published on 27 July 2017 on BBC, Paul Baker said that "Layering upon layering of different influences ensures that there is no one single version of Polari but many versions and Polari has its own vocabulary for elements that mainstream society is not interested in."[5]

On 6 November 2017 Baker was accepted as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).[6]

In 2018 he received a staff award for work on the language of Polari and its contribution to uncovering and highlighting LGBT heritage.[7]

In July 2019 he gave a speech about bias in the press at the British Parliament at the launch of the Centre for Media Monitoring.

Research

His PhD thesis was published in a book entitled Polari - The Lost Language of Gay Men (2002). A later book, Fabulosa (2019) updated the research for a non-academic audience. Baker regularly runs workshops in Polari at the Bishopsgate Institute, London.

His research focuses on corpus linguistics, language and identity, and critical discourse analysis.

A Polari exhibition at the John Rylands Library, Manchester used Paul Baker's research. The Polari Mission was a multi-disciplinary collaboration between artists and specialists in the fields of linguistics and computer science including Baker and Tim Greening-Jackson. The aim was to raise awareness about Polari, one of the world’s most endangered languages, a bold yet secretive part of Gay history.[8]

In 2017 Baker's research on change in British and American English was reported in the Telegraph,[9] Guardian and Mail. Baker noted how gradable adverbs like quite, rather and fairly have dramatically decreased in British English over the period 1931-2006, a phenomenon which seems to follow American English, which is more advanced.

In 2019, Baker's research on patient feedback on the National Health Service was reported in the Mail, Independent[10] and Metro.

Publications

Baker has published over 30 articles in journals such as Discourse and Society, Journal of English Linguistics, Language Learning and Technology, Journal of Language and Politics, and Applied Linguistics.[11] These include:

Baker, P. (2016) 'The shapes of collocation.' International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 21(2): 139-164.

Baker, P.,Gabrielatos, C., Khosravinik, M., Krzyzanowski, M., McEnery, T and Wodak, R. (2008) 'A useful methodological synergy? Combining critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics to examine discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK press.' Discourse and Society 19(3): 273-306.

Gabrielatos, C. and Baker, P. (2008) 'Fleeing, sneaking, flooding: a corpus analysis of discursive constructions of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK Press 1996-2005)' Journal of English Linguistics 36:1 pp. 5–38.

Baker, P. (2004) 'Querying keywords: questions of difference, frequency and sense in keywords analysis.' Journal of English Linguistics. 32: 4 pp 346–359.

Bibliography

Books
  • Baker, P. (2002). Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men. London: Routledge
  • Baker, P. (2002) Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang. London: Continuum
  • Baker, P. & Stanley, J. (2003) Hello Sailor! Seafaring life for gay men: 1945-1990. London: Pearson.
  • Baker, P. (2005). Public discourses of gay men
  • Baker, P., Hardie, A. & McEnery, A. (2006) A Glossary of Corpus Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Baker, P. (2006) Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum.
  • Baker, P. (2008) Sexed Texts: Language, Gender and Sexuality. London: Equinox.
  • Baker, P. (ed.) (2009) Contemporary Corpus Linguistics. London: Continuum.
  • Baker, P. (2010) Sociolinguistics and Corpus Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Baker, P. and Ellece, S. (2011) Key Terms in Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum.
  • Baker, P. Gabrielatos, C. and McEnery. T. (2013) Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The Representation of Islam in the British Press. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Baker, P. (2014) Using Corpora to Analyse Gender. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Baker, P. and McEnery, T. (eds) (2015) Corpora and Discourse: Integrating Discourse and Corpora. London: Palgrave.
  • Baker, P. and Egbert, J. (eds) (2016) Triangulating Methodological Approaches in Corpus-Linguistic Research. London: Routledge.
  • Baker, P. and Balirano, G. (eds) (2017) Queering Masculinities in Language and Culture. London: Palgrave.
  • Baker, P. (2017) American and British English. Divided by a Common Language? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Baker, P., Brookes, G. and Evans, C. (2019) The Language of Patient Feedback: A corpus linguistic study of online health communication. London: Routledge.
  • Baker, P. (2019) Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language. London: Reaktion.
  • Egbert, J. and Baker, P. (eds) (2019) Triangulating Corpus Methodological Approaches in Linguistic Research. London: Routledge.

Articles
  • Baker, P., Gabrielatos, C., Khosravinik, M., Krzyżanowski, M., McEnery T., & Wodak, R. (2008). A useful methodological synergy? Combining critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics to examine discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK press. Discourse and Society, 19(3). doi:
  • Gabrielatos, C., & Baker, P. (2008). Fleeing, sneaking, flooding. Journal of English Linguistics, 36(1). doi:

References
  1. "Baker - Lancaster University". lancaster.ac.uk. 20 March 2019.
  2. "Paul Baker on the website of The Guardian". The Guardian. 20 March 2019.
  3. "The Lost Gay Language of Britain's '60s". Npr.org. 8 November 2003.
  4. "Polari, a vibrant language born out of prejudice". Guardian. 10 May 2010.
  5. "The secret language that broke taboos". BBC. 27 July 2017.
  6. "Honour for Lancaster University linguist". lancaster.ac.uk. 6 November 2017.
  7. "Award winning work on the language of Polari". lancaster.ac.uk. 5 September 2018.
  8. "Polari exhibition at the John Rylands Library, Manchester uses Paul Baker's research". Lancaster University. 19 September 2012.
  9. "The decline of the gradable adverb". The Telegraph. 11 November 2017.
  10. "What do patients really think of NHS staff?". Independent. 13 May 2019.
  11. "Paul Baker - Google Scholar". Google Scholar. 3 April 2019.
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