A History of Women's Contributions to Linguistics

Book excerpt: The author of this essay confesses that she has practised an exhumation exercise: an overwhelming work of research in which many names are hardly known (let alone recognised). The challenges of a work for which there is little precedent, and which was absolutely necessary, are numerous and varied: from the absence of documentation (or the difficulty of accessing it) to the over-representation of a large handful of linguists as opposed to the practical invisibility of the majority, to cite only the most obvious. Nevertheless, the result is an enjoyable and pedagogical read which documents the existence and contributions of more than 200 women who have worked in language-related disciplines. The book explores Western and Eastern sources in order to do justice to all those women who make this book meaningful.