Lead Editor position for ‘Language & History’
Language & History, the journal of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas (www.henrysweet.org), invites applications for a Lead Editor. We are looking for a reliable candidate with excellent organizational skills and wide-ranging interests in the history of linguistic ideas to direct our editorial team, manage the rigorous peer-review process and ensure a timely publication schedule of 3 issues per year.
Responsibilities include:
Screening incoming submissions and issuing decisions regarding their suitability for the journal
Managing, mentoring and recruiting as necessary an excellent Editorial Team consisting of six Associate Editors, Editorial Assistants and Reviews Editors
Liaising as necessary with the journal’s Editorial Board and the Production Team at Taylor & Francis Publishing
Overseeing peer-review workflow via the journal’s online Editorial Management System and corresponding with prospective authors
Taking overall responsibility for compliance of submissions with journal policies, style and formatting requirements
Representing and promoting the journal at conferences and other events
Reporting regularly to the Executive Committee of the Henry Sweet Society
This is an unremunerated position. The successful candidate can avail of a free annual subscription to the Henry Sweet Society. We are seeking applicants with an excellent command of written academic English, a strong background in the history of linguistic ideas, an eye for detail and a vision for the strategic direction of the journal. Candidates should be comfortable with learning to use an online submission system (training will be provided).
Ideally candidates should be able to commit to a five-year term. Previous editorial experience (whether for a journal or in other projects) is desirable.
For more information about the journal, see https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ylhi20/current.
Applicants should send a CV (max. 2 pages) and brief cover letter outlining your suitability for the role to the current Lead Editor of Language & History, Dr Deborah Hayden (deborah.hayden@mu.ie) by no later than Friday 26 January 2024.
Copy Editor/Proofreader position for ‘Language & History’
Language & History, the journal of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas (www.henrysweet.org), invites applications for a Copy Editor/Proofreader.
Responsibilities include:
Checking articles in the final stages of the publication process to support authors in ensuring that articles follow journal style
Making stylistic suggestions and correcting typographical errors to improve the readability of text, where appropriate
Liaising with article authors, the production and typesetting team at Taylor & Francis publishing and the Lead Editor of the journal to meet regular deadlines
This is a volunteer position (requiring up to 2 hours a week on average). The successful candidate can avail of a free annual subscription to the Henry Sweet Society. We are seeking applicants with good organizational skills, an excellent command of written English, a keen eye for detail and an interest in developing their knowledge of academic publishing. Candidates should be comfortable with learning to use an online submission system (training will be provided). A three-year commitment to the Language & History team is desirable.
For more information about the journal, see https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ylhi20/current.
Applicants should send a CV (max. 2 pages) and brief cover letter outlining your suitability for the role to the Lead Editor of Language & History, Dr Deborah Hayden (deborah.hayden@mu.ie) by no later than Friday 26 January 2024.
ICHoLS XVI, Tbilisi (Georgia) 26–30 August 2024
The Sixteenth International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences, ICHoLS XVI, will be held from August 26 to August 30 2024 in Tbilisi (Georgia).
For more details, see the call for papers here.
Call for Papers:
All proposals (for workshops, papers, or posters) concerned with the history, epistemology or historiographical problems of the language sciences are welcome.
We encourage proposals for the organization of thematic workshops, whether open or closed. These must be sent to the organizing committee before 30 January 2024; notification of accepted proposals will be made on 25 February 2024 and the topics of open workshops will be advertised on the conference website.
All thematic workshops should be sent to gashol.ge@gmail.com.
Other proposals (for papers or posters) must be submitted no later than 1 March 2024. Notifications of acceptance will be made on 1 April 2024.
Proposals (consisting of a description of a maximum of 400 words, including bibliography and up to five keywords) are to be submitted via Easychair. Further information: https://ichols.org/.
CfP deadline extended
The deadline for abstract submission for the 2023 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas has been extended to 15th March 2023.
For more details, see the call for papers here.
Associate Editor position for Language & History
Language & History is accepting applications for an Associate Editor. We are looking for a reliable candidate with good organizational skills and wide-ranging interests in the history of linguistic ideas, who wants to help our editorial team keep on top of the rigorous peer-reviewed publishing process and ensure a timely publication schedule.
Responsibilities include:
Assisting the Lead Editor with peer-review workflow and updating the journal’s online Editorial Management System
Corresponding with prospective journal authors
Contacting reviewers, monitoring timely return of peer-review reports, and overseeing the revision process for ca 4–5 articles per year
Ensuring compliance of submissions with journal policies, style and formatting requirements
Assisting with copy-editing of articles accepted for publication and proofreading typeset proofs
This is a volunteer position (requiring approx. 2-3 hours a week on average), but the successful candidate can avail of a free annual subscription to the Henry Sweet Society (https://www.henrysweet.org). We are seeking applicants with an excellent command of written English, a strong background in the subject-area of the journal, a keen eye for detail and an interest in developing their knowledge of academic publishing. Candidates should be comfortable with learning to use an online submission system (training will be provided). A minimum 3-year commitment to the Language & History team is preferable.
For more information about the journal, see https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ylhi20/current.
Applicants should send a CV (max. 2 pages) and brief cover letter outlining your suitability for the role to the Lead Editor of the journal, Dr Deborah Hayden (deborah.hayden@mu.ie) by no later than Friday 17 February 2023.
Vivien Law Prize winners 2022
It is with great pleasure that we announce that this year, given the very strong field, there have been two winners of the 2022 Vivien Law Prize for the best essay submitted on any topic within the history of linguistics by a student or scholar within 5 years of their PhD.
Maxime Maleux (KU Leuven) for their essay “The Curious Case(s) of the Hebrew Article: On a conflated grammatical category and how it emerges from sixteenth-century student notes”.
Liesl Yamaguchi (Boston College) for their essay “The Colors of the Universal Alphabet: Archaeology of an Analogy”.
They each receive a prize of £100, a copy of Vivien Law’s The History of Linguistics in Europe and a year’s membership of the Society.
Next year’s entries close on September 30th 2023.
Congratulations, Maxime and Liesl!
Call for Papers: Annual Colloquium 2023 of the Henry Sweet Society
The 2023 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society will be held from Monday 4 September until Wednesday 6 September 2023 at the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal).
Please find the call for papers here.
Martin Burr grant recipient 2022
It is our great pleasure to announce that Serhii Wakulenko is the latest recipient of a Martin Burr grant. Serhii intends to use the award to partially fund research activities related to their project What Gives Us Firm Ground: A Collection of Essays by George Y. Shevelov (1908–2002).
George Y. Shevelov (1908–2002) was a Ukrainian-born American Linguist primarily renowned for his research into historical phonology of Slavonic Languages and other branches of language history. His bibliography (New York 1998) contains 872 items published in nine languages (Ukrainian, English, German, Polish, Swedish, French, Spanish, Russian, and Czech) and includes several fundamental books in the area of Ukrainian and Slavonic studies.
Serhii and colleagues are producing an edition of Shevelov’s little-known writings primarily dealing with the philosophy of humanities, especially with the impact of politics on science and vice-versa. The book will contain 35 rare pieces of his, written from 1944 to 1996, among them 14 hitherto undocumented bibliographically. The original language is mostly Ukrainian (32 items), 2 pieces are translated from Swedish, one from English. The edition (planned to appear in early 2023) will address issues of interest to a broad public of intellectuals, including historians and political scientists, but with a special focus on linguistics as one of the model disciplines within the humanities.
Photo (provided by Serhii) of the initial part of one of the newspaper articles to be republished, which is accompanied with a telling editor’s note: A Ukrainian scholar, barely several years ago employed by a University in the Soviet Ukraine, pictures in this article the school life under the Soviet regime as he knows it from his own experience. For security reasons he is forced to remain anonymous.
We are delighted to be able to help Serhii finance this project.
Congratulations, Serhii and good luck!
Editorial Assistant for Language & History
Language & History is accepting applications for an Editorial Assistant. We are looking for a reliable candidate with good organizational skills and wide-ranging interests in the history of linguistic ideas, who wants to help our editorial team keep on top of the rigorous peer-reviewed publishing process and ensure a timely publication schedule.
Responsibilities include:
Assisting the core Editorial Team with peer-review workflow and updating the journal’s online Editorial Management System
Corresponding with prospective journal authors
Ensuring compliance of submissions with journal policies, style and formatting requirements
Occasionally assisting with copy-editing of articles accepted for publication and proofreading typeset proofs (max. 2 or 3 articles per year)
This is a volunteer position (requiring approx. 2-3 hours a week on average), but the successful candidate can avail of a free annual subscription to the Henry Sweet Society (https://www.henrysweet.org). We are seeking applicants with an excellent command of written English, a strong background in the subject-area of the journal, a keen eye for detail and an interest in developing their knowledge of academic publishing. Candidates should be comfortable with learning to use an online submission system (training will be provided). A minimum 3-year commitment to the Language & History team is preferable.
For more information about the journal, see https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ylhi20/current.
Applicants should send a CV (max. 2 pages) and brief cover letter outlining your suitability for the role to the Lead Editor of the journal, Dr Deborah Hayden (deborah.hayden@mu.ie) by no later than Friday 29 April 2022.
Professor E.F. Konrad Koerner (5 February 1939 – 6 January, 2022)
We are deeply saddened by the news of the death of Professor E.F. Konrad Koerner (5 February 1939 – 6 January, 2022). The Henry Sweet Society counts Konrad among its founder members; his energy and dedication did much to shape the field of the history of linguistics, and his legacy lives on in the vibrancy of the field now. He will be much missed.
We share below a statement from John Benjamins Publishing Company which highlights Professor Koerner’s impressive contribution to our field.
Staff and management of John Benjamins Publishing Company were greatly saddened by the news that E.F.K. Koerner passed away on January 6th.
It was a meeting between (Ernst Frideryk) Konrad Koerner and John Benjamins that ultimately led to John Benjamins Publishing Company having a strong focus on linguistics and the language sciences. The cooperation started in 1973 with the founding of the journal 'Historiographia Linguistica', the first volume of which appeared in 1974 and which is still going strong. The history of the language sciences was the subject closest to Konrad Koerner's heart and he edited the journal himself until about a year ago.
The journal was followed in the early '70s by the "Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science", an umbrella covering five book series: "Amsterdam Classics in Linguistics, 1800-1925", "Classics in Psycholinguistics", "Library & Information Sources in Linguistics", "Current Issues in Linguistic Theory" (CILT), and "Studies in the History of the Language Sciences" (SiHoLS). The latter two of these series continue to be active publishing monographs and edited volumes to this day. The editorship of CILT was handed over some years ago already, but the hand-over of the editorship of SiHoLS had only very recently been completed. In 1988 Benjamins also became the publisher of the journal 'Diachronica', which Konrad Koerner had founded with Philip H. Baldi and Allan R. Bomhard four years earlier, at Georg Olms Verlag, and which he edited until 2001. Although over the years the editorship of these journals and book series was handed to new editors, Konrad Koerner never ceased to take an interest in them.
With the founding and editing of these journals and series, the contribution of Konrad Koerner to the field of linguistics, and especially the history of the language sciences, cannot be overstated. In addition, of course, he has contributed considerably with his own work, published in many articles and monographs over the years, up to his "Last Papers in Linguistic Historiography" in 2020.
We are sad, but comforted by the knowledge that we, and many others elsewhere, may keep this impressive legacy and build on it.
Call for Papers: Henry Sweet Society Colloquium 2022 (Leuven, 20-22 September)
The 2022 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas will be held from Tuesday 20 September until Thursday 22 September 2022 at the University of Leuven (Belgium). The general theme of the colloquium is:
Blind spots in the history of linguistic thought:
Forgotten or neglected voices, areas, approaches and methods.
In addition, papers are invited on any topic in the History of Linguistics and Linguistic Ideas and Practices. We also welcome proposals for panel discussions or thematic sessions.
Paper should be 20 minutes in length (+ 10 minutes of discussion). Proposals should be submitted to Luz Van den Bruel (luz.vandenbruel@kuleuven.be) by 31 March 2022 and should contain the following information: Name, institutional affiliation (if any), email address, and abstract (max. 250 words).
In addition, proposals for panels should include a 100-word statement from the panel organiser(s) giving the rationale for the panel.
Notification of acceptance will be made by 31 May 2022.
For further details of the Martin Burr travel bursary for graduate students and early career scholars, please see here.
For other inquiries, please contact the organizers:
Toon van Hal (toon.vanhal@kuleuven.be)
Floris Solleveld (floris.solleveld@kuleuven.be)
The University of Leuven is easily accessible by train (30 minutes from Brussels South, Eurostar terminus) and plane (15 minutes from Brussels Airport). We encourage that delegates travel by train when feasible. Also, we kindly invite you to distribute this call further within your network.
Vivien Law Prize Winner 2021
It is with great pleasure that we announce the winner of the 2021 Vivien Law Prize for the best essay submitted on any topic within the history of linguistics by a student or scholars within five years of their PhD:
Floris Solleveld (KU Leuven) for his essay “Language and the Mapping of the World: Linguistics in Relation to Ethnology and Geography from Hervás to Boas”.
Floris receives a prize of £200, a copy of Vivien Law’s The History of Linguistics in Europe and a year’s membership of the Society.
Next year’s entries close on September 30th 2022.
Congratulations, Floris!
ICHoLS Registration
Registration for this year’s ICHoLS conference has been extended until August 22nd. Follow the link below to register and to view the programme:
https://convegni.unicatt.it/ichols
We look forward to ‘seeing’ you there!
HSS Colloquium 23/23 April 2021
A big thank you to all who presented, attended and helped to organise the 2021 online Henry Sweet Society colloquium. We thoroughly enjoyed the two days.
If you missed the event (or want to rewatch your favourite presentation), you can now find recordings of the colloquium here.
2021 Online Colloquium
The 2021 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas will be held online on the 22-23 April 2021, hosted by the University of Westminster, London.
Please see the programme here.
If you wish to register for the conference as an audience member, please send an email to LAS-exec-asst@westminster.ac.uk by Sunday 11th April 2021.
Colloquium 22 April 2021 - CALL FOR PAPERS
The 2021 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas will be held on 22 April, hosted by the University of Westminster, London. Like the 2020 colloquium, this will take place on-line, but if government guidelines allow it, we will also offer the option of attendance in person.
Papers are invited on any topic in the History of Linguistics and Linguistic Ideas. We also welcome proposals for panels of papers on a specific topic. Papers should be 20 minutes in length (+ 10 minutes of discussion). Proposals should be submitted to Mariane Bignotto (LAS-exec-asst@westminster.ac.uk) by 29 JANUARY 2021 and should contain the following information: Name, Institutional affiliation (if any), email address, and abstract (max. 250 words). In addition, proposals for panels should include a 100-word statement from the panel organiser(s) giving the rationale for the panel.
Notification of acceptance will be made by 19 FEBRUARY 2021.
For further information about the Society, details of the Martin Burr travel bursary for graduate students and early career scholars, and updates on the colloquium, please visit the Henry Sweet Society website: http://www.henrysweet.org.
If you wish to register for the conference as an audience member, please send an email to LAS-exec-asst@westminster.ac.uk. If you wish to attend in person, information about the cost of refreshments / meals will follow nearer the time.
The University of Westminster is located on Regent Street in central London and is easily accessible from all London mainline railway stations.
The event will be held in accordance with any Public Health England advice that may be in place at the time.
Vivien Law prize winners 2020
It is with great pleasure that we announce that this year, given the very strong field, there have been two winners of the 2020 Vivien Law Prize for the best essay submitted on any topic within the history of linguistics by a student or scholar within 5 years of their PhD.
Eleonora Serra (University of Cambridge) for her essay “Language Codification and Non-literary Norms in Sixteenth-century Italy: Rules for Informal Writings”.
Viktoriia Krivoshchekova (NUI Maynooth) for her essay “Early Irish Grammarians and the Study of Speech Sound”.
They each receive a prize of £200, a copy of Vivien Law’s The History of Linguistics in Europe and a year’s membership of the Society.
Next year’s entries close on September 30th 2021.
Congratulations, Eleonora and Viktoriia!
Update: Rescheduled 2020 Colloquium
We are delighted to announce that we will be holding a short online colloquium on Friday 23 October 2020 (see timetable below). We will also hold our (famously short) Annual General Meeting at this time and would be very grateful for your attendance at this too.
The colloquium will take place via Zoom and we will send a link to registered participants closer to the time. All are welcome to attend and attendance is free of charge.
Please register by contacting Mariane Bignotto (M.Bignotto1@westminster.ac.uk) by Friday 09 October.
We hope that we will be in a position to organise a live day-long event in London in Spring 2021, but this will naturally depend on the health guidelines.
Provisional timetable
1200 High-Prestige and Low-Prestige Languages in 19th-Century Comparative Philology (Floris Solleveld, KU Leuven, BELGIUM)
1230 Dialogues and Sentences in 19th-Century Multilingual Conversation Guides: Filiation, Updating and Innovation (Monica Lupetti & Marco E.L. Guidi, Università di Pisa, ITALY)
1300 The Confessional Sciences: Scientific Lexicography and Sexology in the Oxford English Dictionary (Stephen Turton, University of Oxford, UK)
1330 Lunch break
1400 The Leslie Seiffert Lecture — Colonial knowledge, postcolonial legacies: Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India 1903-1928 (Prof. Javed Majeed, King’s College London, UK)
1430 Annual General Meeting of the Henry Sweet Society
Rescheduled: April 2020 Colloquium
It is with regret that we announce the rescheduling of the colloquium due to take place at the University of Westminster on the 30th of April. For those of you who have already paid your registration fee, this should be reimbursed automatically. We will be in touch in the future with information on the rescheduled date but for now we simply wish you all good health in these difficult times.
Programme for the 2020 Colloquium, Westminster
We are pleased to announce the programme for the 2020 Colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society, to be held at the University of Westminster (30th April 2020).
View the programme here.