HiPhiLangSci
@hiphilangsci.bsky.social
A blog devoted to exploring and promoting the great diversity that exists in the study of language, in the past and today.
https://hiphilangsci.net
Posts by: @teapotlinguist.bsky.social
https://hiphilangsci.net
Posts by: @teapotlinguist.bsky.social
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 212 years ago, Franz von Miklosich (1813–1891) was born 🎂 He was a pioneering scholar of historical-comparative Slavic linguistics. He also studied Romani dialects as well as the areal convergence between Slavic and Romance varieties in the Balkans.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 20, 2025 at 8:40 AM
#OTD 212 years ago, Franz von Miklosich (1813–1891) was born 🎂 He was a pioneering scholar of historical-comparative Slavic linguistics. He also studied Romani dialects as well as the areal convergence between Slavic and Romance varieties in the Balkans.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 89 years ago, Suzette Haden Elgin (1936–2015) was born 🎉 Best known for her work on verbal self-defence and for the conlang Láadan from her Native Tongue series. The Elgin Award for the best sci-fi poetry collection is named in her honour.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 18, 2025 at 9:03 AM
#OTD 89 years ago, Suzette Haden Elgin (1936–2015) was born 🎉 Best known for her work on verbal self-defence and for the conlang Láadan from her Native Tongue series. The Elgin Award for the best sci-fi poetry collection is named in her honour.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Episode no. 52 is out 🚲
James McElvenny (@jamesmcelvenny.bsky.social) talks with Gereon Müller (@unileipzig.bsky.social) about his new book Lanes to Language, which unites the worlds of history of linguistics and cycling.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/15/p...
#Histlx
James McElvenny (@jamesmcelvenny.bsky.social) talks with Gereon Müller (@unileipzig.bsky.social) about his new book Lanes to Language, which unites the worlds of history of linguistics and cycling.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/15/p...
#Histlx
Podcast episode 52: Gereon Müller on Lanes to Language
In this interview, Gereon Müller discusses his new book Lanes to Language, which unites the worlds of history of linguistics and cycling.
hiphilangsci.net
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Episode no. 52 is out 🚲
James McElvenny (@jamesmcelvenny.bsky.social) talks with Gereon Müller (@unileipzig.bsky.social) about his new book Lanes to Language, which unites the worlds of history of linguistics and cycling.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/15/p...
#Histlx
James McElvenny (@jamesmcelvenny.bsky.social) talks with Gereon Müller (@unileipzig.bsky.social) about his new book Lanes to Language, which unites the worlds of history of linguistics and cycling.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/15/p...
#Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 223 years ago, August Friedrich Pott (1802-1887) was born 🥳 He started working as a schoolmaster in Celle, but would later become one of the pioneers of (historical comparative) linguistics as well as the leading scholar of Romani in the 19th century.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 14, 2025 at 9:53 AM
#OTD 223 years ago, August Friedrich Pott (1802-1887) was born 🥳 He started working as a schoolmaster in Celle, but would later become one of the pioneers of (historical comparative) linguistics as well as the leading scholar of Romani in the 19th century.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 206 years ago, Daniel Sanders (1819–1897) was born 🎉 A lexicographer and poet, he is best known as the co-author of the Muret-Sanders English-German Dictionary and as a critic of Jacob Grimm’s dictionary. The German city of Neustrelitz awards a prize in his honour.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 12, 2025 at 10:49 AM
#OTD 206 years ago, Daniel Sanders (1819–1897) was born 🎉 A lexicographer and poet, he is best known as the co-author of the Muret-Sanders English-German Dictionary and as a critic of Jacob Grimm’s dictionary. The German city of Neustrelitz awards a prize in his honour.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
And Meillet's /Altarmenisches Elementarbuch/ (1913) is a go-to, easy-to-find-stuff-in, concise grammar.
#OTD 159 years ago, Antoine Meillet (1866–1936) was born 🎉 He was one of the most influential historical linguists of the twentieth century, who formulated the so-called Meillet’s Law on Proto-Slavic accents and in 1912 coined the term “grammaticalisation.”
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 11, 2025 at 11:25 AM
And Meillet's /Altarmenisches Elementarbuch/ (1913) is a go-to, easy-to-find-stuff-in, concise grammar.
Joyeux anniversaire, cher Antoine 🎂
To celebrate, remember that "each language forms a system where everything hangs together".
#LinguisticQuotes #Histlx
To celebrate, remember that "each language forms a system where everything hangs together".
#LinguisticQuotes #Histlx
November 11, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Joyeux anniversaire, cher Antoine 🎂
To celebrate, remember that "each language forms a system where everything hangs together".
#LinguisticQuotes #Histlx
To celebrate, remember that "each language forms a system where everything hangs together".
#LinguisticQuotes #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 159 years ago, Antoine Meillet (1866–1936) was born 🎉 He was one of the most influential historical linguists of the twentieth century, who formulated the so-called Meillet’s Law on Proto-Slavic accents and in 1912 coined the term “grammaticalisation.”
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
#OTD 159 years ago, Antoine Meillet (1866–1936) was born 🎉 He was one of the most influential historical linguists of the twentieth century, who formulated the so-called Meillet’s Law on Proto-Slavic accents and in 1912 coined the term “grammaticalisation.”
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 124 years ago, Dorothy Whitelock (1901–1982) was born 🥳 She was a leading scholar of Old English, best known today for her editions of Old English texts. She was the first woman to hold the Elrington and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 11, 2025 at 11:07 AM
#OTD 124 years ago, Dorothy Whitelock (1901–1982) was born 🥳 She was a leading scholar of Old English, best known today for her editions of Old English texts. She was the first woman to hold the Elrington and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 134 years ago, Ida Suter (1891–1974) was born 🎉 An expert dialectologist, she spent 30 years working on the Swiss German Dictionary (@ch-idiotikon.bsky.social) and contributed to the edition of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi’s (1746–1827) letters.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 10, 2025 at 8:52 AM
#OTD 134 years ago, Ida Suter (1891–1974) was born 🎉 An expert dialectologist, she spent 30 years working on the Swiss German Dictionary (@ch-idiotikon.bsky.social) and contributed to the edition of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi’s (1746–1827) letters.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
The next Henry Sweet Society (@henrysweetsoc.bsky.social) Colloquium will be held on 2-4 September 2026 at the University of Nottingham (@uniofnottingham.bsky.social).
Thematic focus: (Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas
CfP: hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/08/c...
#Histlx
Thematic focus: (Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas
CfP: hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/08/c...
#Histlx
Cfp: Henry Sweet Society Colloquium 2026
The 2026 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas will be held on 2–4 September 2026 at the University of Nottingham, UK. Confirmed plenary speaker: Cécile V…
hiphilangsci.net
November 10, 2025 at 7:54 AM
The next Henry Sweet Society (@henrysweetsoc.bsky.social) Colloquium will be held on 2-4 September 2026 at the University of Nottingham (@uniofnottingham.bsky.social).
Thematic focus: (Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas
CfP: hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/08/c...
#Histlx
Thematic focus: (Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas
CfP: hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/08/c...
#Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 114 years ago, Ruth Klappenbach (1911-1977) was born 🎉 She focused on lexicography, became one of the co-founders and co-editors of the Dictionary of Contemporary German Language (Wörterbuch der deutschen Gegenwartssprache, 1952-1977).
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 7, 2025 at 8:44 AM
#OTD 114 years ago, Ruth Klappenbach (1911-1977) was born 🎉 She focused on lexicography, became one of the co-founders and co-editors of the Dictionary of Contemporary German Language (Wörterbuch der deutschen Gegenwartssprache, 1952-1977).
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 191 years ago, Lucy C. Lloyd (1834-1914) was born 🥳 She was an ethnologist as well as a linguist, she collected an archive of ǀXam and ǃKung texts, who, in 1913, received an honorary doctorate for her work as the first woman in South Africa.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 7, 2025 at 8:23 AM
#OTD 191 years ago, Lucy C. Lloyd (1834-1914) was born 🥳 She was an ethnologist as well as a linguist, she collected an archive of ǀXam and ǃKung texts, who, in 1913, received an honorary doctorate for her work as the first woman in South Africa.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
I did my homework.
Very informative.
Thanks ! @randyallenharris.bsky.social @hiphilangsci.bsky.social
hiphilangsci.net/2024/11/01/p...
Very informative.
Thanks ! @randyallenharris.bsky.social @hiphilangsci.bsky.social
hiphilangsci.net/2024/11/01/p...
Podcast episode 42: Randy Harris on the Linguistics Wars
In this interview, we talk to Randy Harris about the controversies surrounding the generative semantics movement in American linguistics of the 1960s and 70s.
hiphilangsci.net
November 6, 2025 at 6:20 PM
I did my homework.
Very informative.
Thanks ! @randyallenharris.bsky.social @hiphilangsci.bsky.social
hiphilangsci.net/2024/11/01/p...
Very informative.
Thanks ! @randyallenharris.bsky.social @hiphilangsci.bsky.social
hiphilangsci.net/2024/11/01/p...
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 127 years ago, Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain (1898-1975) was born 🎂 During her anthropological and linguistic career, she investigated the origins of Haitian Creole and conducted field research in Haiti, but also in Congo, Togo, and Nigeria.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM
#OTD 127 years ago, Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain (1898-1975) was born 🎂 During her anthropological and linguistic career, she investigated the origins of Haitian Creole and conducted field research in Haiti, but also in Congo, Togo, and Nigeria.
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#WomenInLinguistics #LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
Yuen-Ren Chao was a phenomenal linguist. I recently discussed the enduring relevance of his key 1934 article here: dlc.hypotheses.org/3381
#OTD 134 years ago, Yuen Ren Chao (1892-1982) was born 🎉 He was an expert on Chinese grammar and phonology and the author of the Gwoyeu Romatzyh, a Latinised spelling system for Standard Chinese. He served as the president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1945.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 3, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Yuen-Ren Chao was a phenomenal linguist. I recently discussed the enduring relevance of his key 1934 article here: dlc.hypotheses.org/3381
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 134 years ago, Yuen Ren Chao (1892-1982) was born 🎉 He was an expert on Chinese grammar and phonology and the author of the Gwoyeu Romatzyh, a Latinised spelling system for Standard Chinese. He served as the president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1945.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 3, 2025 at 9:02 AM
#OTD 134 years ago, Yuen Ren Chao (1892-1982) was born 🎉 He was an expert on Chinese grammar and phonology and the author of the Gwoyeu Romatzyh, a Latinised spelling system for Standard Chinese. He served as the president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1945.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
Episode no. 51 is out 🤩
Martin Haspelmath (@haspelmath.bsky.social) talks about how he got started in linguistics, the rise of large-scale areal typology in the 1990s, language description vs language comparison, and the current state of the field.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/01/p...
#Histlx
Martin Haspelmath (@haspelmath.bsky.social) talks about how he got started in linguistics, the rise of large-scale areal typology in the 1990s, language description vs language comparison, and the current state of the field.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/01/p...
#Histlx
Podcast episode 51: Martin Haspelmath
In this interview, Martin Haspelmath talks about how he got started in linguistics, the rise of large-scale areal typology in the 1990s, language description vs language comparison, and the current…
hiphilangsci.net
October 31, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Episode no. 51 is out 🤩
Martin Haspelmath (@haspelmath.bsky.social) talks about how he got started in linguistics, the rise of large-scale areal typology in the 1990s, language description vs language comparison, and the current state of the field.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/01/p...
#Histlx
Martin Haspelmath (@haspelmath.bsky.social) talks about how he got started in linguistics, the rise of large-scale areal typology in the 1990s, language description vs language comparison, and the current state of the field.
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2025/11/01/p...
#Histlx
The October 2025 edition of our regular update on recently published works in the history and philosophy of the language sciences is now available 🤩
📚 hiphilangsci.net/2025/10/30/p...
#Histlx
📚 hiphilangsci.net/2025/10/30/p...
#Histlx
Recent publications in the history and philosophy of the language sciences – October 2025
Histoire Epistémologie Langage 47(1). 2025. Grammaticalisation : histoire et perspectives, dossier thématique sous la direction de Benjamin Fagard. Paris: SHESL. 340 p. ISSN: 0750-8069Publisher’s …
hiphilangsci.net
October 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The October 2025 edition of our regular update on recently published works in the history and philosophy of the language sciences is now available 🤩
📚 hiphilangsci.net/2025/10/30/p...
#Histlx
📚 hiphilangsci.net/2025/10/30/p...
#Histlx
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
Great new article by Geoff Pullum on Post, Chomsky, and the roots of generative grammar, written with his customary verve, depth, and precision. doi.org/10.1075/hl.0.... #histlx #Linguistics #LangSky
The prehistory of generative grammar and Chomsky’s debt to Emil
Post | John Benjamins
Summary
Generative linguistics has a longer prehistory than most
linguists realize. The rewriting systems that Chomsky brought into linguistics
as generative grammars were explicitly defined more than...
doi.org
October 28, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Great new article by Geoff Pullum on Post, Chomsky, and the roots of generative grammar, written with his customary verve, depth, and precision. doi.org/10.1075/hl.0.... #histlx #Linguistics #LangSky
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 86 years ago, Jane H. Hill (1939–2018) was born 🎉 A linguistic anthropologist who studied Uto-Aztecan languages in the US and in her sociolinguistic work analysed strategies behind racist language, including Mock Spanish.
#WomenInLinguistics #Histlx #LinguisticBirthdays
#WomenInLinguistics #Histlx #LinguisticBirthdays
October 27, 2025 at 8:48 AM
#OTD 86 years ago, Jane H. Hill (1939–2018) was born 🎉 A linguistic anthropologist who studied Uto-Aztecan languages in the US and in her sociolinguistic work analysed strategies behind racist language, including Mock Spanish.
#WomenInLinguistics #Histlx #LinguisticBirthdays
#WomenInLinguistics #Histlx #LinguisticBirthdays
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
Roman Jakobson is someone I've quoted almost more than any linguist for his observation that languages differ not so much in what they *can* express (all languages can say pretty much anything) but what they *must*, the different choices different languages force on you, which vary a lot.
С днем рождения, dear Roman 🥳
"If we wanted to characterise briefly the kind of thinking currently governing science in its most varied manifestations, we could not find a more fitting expression than structuralism."
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/06/01/p...
#Histlx #LinguisticQuotes
"If we wanted to characterise briefly the kind of thinking currently governing science in its most varied manifestations, we could not find a more fitting expression than structuralism."
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/06/01/p...
#Histlx #LinguisticQuotes
October 23, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Roman Jakobson is someone I've quoted almost more than any linguist for his observation that languages differ not so much in what they *can* express (all languages can say pretty much anything) but what they *must*, the different choices different languages force on you, which vary a lot.
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 116 years ago, Zellig Harris (1909–1992) was born 🎉 A Semiticist who later turned to formal and mathematical approaches to language. His work on linguistic transformations made him a key precursor to Generative Grammar.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
October 23, 2025 at 8:23 AM
#OTD 116 years ago, Zellig Harris (1909–1992) was born 🎉 A Semiticist who later turned to formal and mathematical approaches to language. His work on linguistic transformations made him a key precursor to Generative Grammar.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
С днем рождения, dear Roman 🥳
"If we wanted to characterise briefly the kind of thinking currently governing science in its most varied manifestations, we could not find a more fitting expression than structuralism."
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/06/01/p...
#Histlx #LinguisticQuotes
"If we wanted to characterise briefly the kind of thinking currently governing science in its most varied manifestations, we could not find a more fitting expression than structuralism."
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/06/01/p...
#Histlx #LinguisticQuotes
October 23, 2025 at 8:03 AM
С днем рождения, dear Roman 🥳
"If we wanted to characterise briefly the kind of thinking currently governing science in its most varied manifestations, we could not find a more fitting expression than structuralism."
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/06/01/p...
#Histlx #LinguisticQuotes
"If we wanted to characterise briefly the kind of thinking currently governing science in its most varied manifestations, we could not find a more fitting expression than structuralism."
🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/06/01/p...
#Histlx #LinguisticQuotes
Reposted by HiPhiLangSci
#OTD 225 years ago, Christian Lassen (1800–1876) was born 🎂 An orientalist who made major contributions to the decipherment of Old Persian cuneiform, the Brahmi script, and the Kharoshthi inscriptions on Bactrian coins.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
October 22, 2025 at 5:49 AM
#OTD 225 years ago, Christian Lassen (1800–1876) was born 🎂 An orientalist who made major contributions to the decipherment of Old Persian cuneiform, the Brahmi script, and the Kharoshthi inscriptions on Bactrian coins.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx