Women in the History of Linguistics

Wendy Ayres-Bennett is Professor of French Philology and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. She specializes in the history of French and the history of linguistic thought, focusing primarily on questions of standardization and codification, linguistic ideology and policy, and variation and change, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Her major publications include Sociolinguistic Variation in Seventeenth-century France: Methodology and Case Studies (CUP, 2004), as well as critical editions of key texts in the history of the codification of French. She has led an international research project on the genre of observations on the French language and a flagship interdisciplinary research programme promoting the value of languages for key issues of our time (Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies). Helena Sanson is Professor of Italian, History of Linguistics, and Women's Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her interdisciplinary research brings together the history of linguistic thought and the history of women. She has published extensively in both fields. Among her main publications are Donne, precettistica e lingua nell'Italia del Cinquecento (Accademia della Crusca, 2007), Women, Language and Grammar in Italy, 1500-1900 (British Academy/OUP, 2011), and Conduct Literature for and about Women in Italy, 1470-1900: Describing and Prescribing Life, co-edited with Francesco Lucioli (Éditions Classiques Garnier, 2016), as well as a number of critical editions of early modern conduct literature texts for women. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the book series Women and Gender in Italy 1500-1900 (Éditions Classiques Garnier), and the peer-reviewed journal Women Language Literature in Italy/Donne Lingua Letteratura in Italia.

Wendy Ayres-Bennett and Helena Sanson: Women in the history of Linguistics: Distant and neglected voices
1: Anneli Luhtala: Visible and invisible women in ancient linguistic culture
2: Helena Sanson: Women and language codification in Italy: Marginalized voices, forgotten contributions
3: Wendy Ayres-Bennett: Women as authors, audience, and authorities in the French tradition
4: María Luisa Calero Vaquera: The contribution of women to the Spanish linguistic tradition: Four centuries of surviving words
5: Sónia Coelho, Susana Fontes, and Rolf Kemmler: The female contribution to language studies in Portugal
6: Sylvie Archaimbault: Women and the elaboration of a Russian language norm
7: Nicola McLelland: Women in the history of German language studies: 'That subtle influence for which women are best suited'?
8: Marijke van der Wal and Jan Noordegraaf: The extraordinary and changing role of women in Dutch language history
9: Tove Bull, Toril Swan, and Carol Henriksen: Obstacles and opportunities for women linguists in Scandinavia
10: Carol Percy: British women's roles in the standardization and study of English
11: Bernhard Maier: The female quest for the Celtic tongues of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
12: Margaret Thomas: Early American women's participation in language scholarship
13: Raina Heaton, Eve Okura Koller, and Lyle Campbell: Women's contributions to early American Indian linguistics
14: Jane Simpson: Language studies by women in Australia: 'A well-stored sewing basket'
15: Momoko Nakamura: The history of the regulation and exploitation of women's speech and writing in Japan
16: Mariarosaria Gianninoto: Women and language in Imperial China: 'Womenly words'
17: Laurie L. Patton: Women and language in the Early Indian Tradition
18: Fatima Sadiqi: Women and the codification and stabilization of the Arabic language
19: Helma Pasch: European women and the description and teaching of African languages