In this interview, Neil Cohn tells us about his theory that visual art and spoken language draw on the same underlying cognitive abilities.
Read more ›Recent publications in the history and philosophy of the language sciences – January 2026
Historiographia Linguistica 52(2). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 211 p. ISSN 0302-5160
Publisher’s website
Articles
The conjunction between coordination and subordination in missionary grammars of Aymara and Quechua
Annamaria Bartolotta
The many lives of a dictionary: An analysis of how Dutch lexicography was received and repurposed in Early Modern Japan
Lorenzo Nespoli
Germanic affixoids in Jacob Grimm
Douglas Lightfoot
Continu et Discontinu : Antoine Meillet’s sociolinguistic theory of change between philosophy and physics
Lin Chalozin-Dovrat
The prehistory of generative grammar and Chomsky’s debt to Emil Post
Geoffrey K. Pullum
Posted in Publications
CHSTM History of Language Sciences spring program 2026
CHSTM Working group History of the Language Sciences. Meetings online.
The meetings of the CHSTM working group on the history of the language sciences continue in spring 2026. We have an exciting program lined up over the next few months:
13 January – Adrianna Link (American Philosophical Society)
Reinventing Anthropology through Crisis and Collections
16 February – John E. Joseph (University of Edinburgh)
Foucault and the archive as ‘system of enunciability’
10 March – Robert Edwards (UC San Diego / Irvine)
Anticolonial Methods in the History of Linguistic Anthropology
28 April – Chloé Laplatine (CNRS, Histoire des théories linguistiques)
History of language documentation in the Pacific Northwest
12 May – Amanda Harris (University of Sydney)
Archived Sound and Creative Engagements with Papua New Guinean Cultural Heritage in Australia
Full details and information on how to join the meetings can be found
on the group’s webpage: https://www.chstm.org/group/history-language-sciences
Posted in Announcements, Conferences and workshops
Podcast episode 53: Paul Kiparsky on Pāṇini
In this interview, Paul Kiparsky introduces us to the ancient Indian grammarian Pāṇini and the philosophical significance of his grammatical description of Sanskrit.
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Posted in Podcast
Call for Papers: ICHoLS XVII, Niterói (Rio de Janeiro)
23–27 August 2027 — Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Organized by: Universidade Federal Fluminense
The 17th International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences (ICHoLS XVII) will take place from 23 to 27 August 2027 in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Posted in Uncategorized
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.
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Posted in Podcast
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 Van den Avenne (EHESS)
As ever, we cordially invite papers or panel proposals on any topic in the History of Linguistics and Linguistic Ideas and Practices, but the thematic focus of the colloquium is (Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas.
We invite contributions on the shifting role and status of the (non)native speaker and (non)native speakerness within the history of linguistic ideas. What might the history of linguistics offer past, present, and future perspectives on the (non-)native speaker? What contributions has the native speaker made to the history of linguistic thought?
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Posted in Conferences and workshops
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 state of the field.
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Posted in Podcast
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: 0750-8069
Publisher’s website
Journal in open access
Hommage
Wolf Feuerhahn
Claude Blanckaert (1952-2024)
Grammaticalisation : histoire et perspectives
Dossier thématique dirigé par Benjamin Fagard
Benjamin Fagard
La grammaticalisation : une perspective diachronique
Présentation du dossier
Cendrine Pagani-Naudet
La grammaticalisation et l’histoire de l’histoire des futurs romans
Gerda Hassler
Grammaticalisation avant la lettre : contribution de la pensée linguistique des XVIIIe et XIXe siècles à la compréhension de la grammaticalisation
Posted in Publications
Podcast episode 50: Gerda Haßler
In this interview, Gerda Haßler discusses her career in Romanistik and the history of linguistics in the DDR and re-united Germany.
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Posted in Podcast
History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences 