HEL (History of the English Language) on the Web

Review of Porck, Gordon & Caon (2024): Keys to the History of English: Diachronic Linguistic Change, Morpho-syntax and Lexicography benjamins.com/catalog/dia....

Galileo’s handwritten notes found in ancient astronomy text Discovery sheds new light on how famed astronomer came to lead a scientific revolution

www.science.org/content/arti...

the conference website for the 9th conference of the International Society for the Linguistics of English is live now: isle9conference.com
KU Leuven, 24-27 May 2027
#ISLE9

PIMS home to rare Bible dating to 1500s Thanks to a donation from Tony Comper, the former Bank of Montreal CEO and longtime board chair of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the University of St. Michael’s College, a complete ...

"PIMS home to rare Bible dating to 1500s: Toronto Pontifical Institute receives first-edition Douay-Rheims Bible"
www.catholicregister.org/item/3513-pi...

Snippet of a hand-written text with the word 'received' spelled <Receiv,d>

Does someone know anything about the practice of using a comma instead of an apostrophe? I've so far come across two writers doing this: one is late-18th century, and the other (pictured here) unknown but I reckon late-18th to mid-19th century. #spelling #punctuation #manuscripts

The Medieval Monk: Blog The Medieval Monk uses humour to convey knowledge about medieval culture

📢Happy #medievalmonday, #medievalsky!
📜Here is our #OldEnglish Resource of the Week
📖 The Medieval Monk
📲 www.themedievalmonk.com/blog
✍️ Christopher Monk

Joseph Bosworth & Old English Studies: Then, Now and the Future (21 May 2026, 16:00-19:00 CEST / 10:00-13:00 EDT) An online academic memorial event reflecting on the continuing impact of Joseph Bosworth († 27 May 1876) and his Old English dictionary on the field of Old English Studies. The programme will consist of a series of 20-minute papers and a roundtable. Confirmed speakers include: • Dabney Bankert (James Madison University) • Rachel A. Fletcher (Leiden University) • Thijs Porck (Leiden University) • Christine Rauer (University of St Andrews) • Ondřej Tichý (Charles University, Prague) • Madeleine Thompson (Anthropic, author of the Bosworth-Toller smartphone app) For more information (or joining the roundtable) you can contact the organisers by sending an e-mail to Rachel A. Fletcher (r.a.fletcher@hum.leidenuniv.nl ). Attendance is free, but please let us know you are coming by filling out this registration form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScj3hMvrYe6vVzQlTWsFyNmgQ44jWkTUyL8ZDlxnF6E6btZJg/viewform Organisers: Rachel A. Fletcher, Thijs Porck, Christine Rauer and Ondřej Tichý This event is is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (EMERGENCE, Grant agreement No.101115867, https://doi.org/10.3030/101115867 ). Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Like Old English, dictionaries, and/or nineteenth century scholarship? Save the date for an online event celebrating Joseph Bosworth and his Old English dictionary.
Register (free!) here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Screenshot of "A Digital Catalogue of the Pre-1500 Manuscripts and Incunables of the Canterbury Tales" with the announcement "This edition is no longer available. The catalogue will be available from Boydell and Brewer in 2026; further information to come."

Oh no!

Undergraduate Students Deliver New Translation of 13th-Century Medieval Drama - University of St. Michael's College Two Medieval Studies students have created a splash with their translation of a 13th-century Biblical-miracle play, a work they hope to see published soon.  Meagan Mellor and Lauren Saxberg were study...

Undergraduate Students Deliver New Translation of 13th-Century Medieval Drama @utoronto.ca
stmikes.utoronto.ca/news/undergr...

Library Catalogues and / as Research Data: the hidden voices of early printed books in the John Rylands
Free and online via Teams. Booking essential via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/john-rylands-research-institute-and-library-17289731815

Free, onlyne, searchable Middel Englisshe Dictionarye. "The world's largest searchable database of Middle English lexicon and usage for the period 1100-1500."
quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-eng...

Viking Age mass grave unearthed near Cambridge with remains of ‘extremely tall’ man Tall individual was somewhere between 17 and 24 years old, with evidence indicating he may have had a hormone-related growth condition

Viking Age mass grave unearthed near Cambridge with remains of ‘extremely tall’ man who had brain surgery

Tall individual was somewhere between 17 and 24 years old, with evidence indicating he may have had a hormone-related growth condition

© Cambridge Archaeological Unit/David Matzliach

Jobs: General Linguistics, Phonetics: Lecturer in Linguistics (Teaching & Scholarship), Queen Mary University of London Other Specialties: History of English Description: The Department of Linguistics, within the School of the Arts, is looking to appoint a Lecturer in Linguistics (Teaching and Scholarship) to cover a staff member on externally funded research leave. Duties will include convening, teaching and marking on the following modules: (i) LIN5224 Speech, Hearing, and Phonetic Sciences, (ii) LIN212 History of English, (iii) LIN7010 Sociophonetics, and (iv) LIN7078 Analysing Language Datasets. T

Jobs: General Linguistics, Phonetics: Lecturer in Linguistics (Teaching & Scholarship), Queen Mary University of London

How did ancient innovators understand phonetics before linguistics existed? Dr. Danny Bate joins the Department of Language and Linguistic Science on 12 February to discuss linguistic thinking in the history of the alphabet.

Read more: www.york.ac.uk/langu...

#langsky #linguistics

full-time assistantship in Historical Sociolinguistics
career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...

home.digitaltolkien.com now supports searching P-texts in Volume 10.

Page of black text with red highlight letters. Page has two heraldic shields in colour.

A book of English firsts, this book explores hawking, hunting and heraldry. 🦅🏹🛡️

By Juliana Berners, this is the first English printed work authored by a woman. It also contains the first images printed in colour in England.

📕 Boke of St Albans, 1486 (10001)

Is the Dictionary Done For? The print edition of Merriam-Webster was once a touchstone of authority and stability. Then the internet brought about a revolution.

"Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, published in London in 1755, carved out a role for the dictionary: to establish what would become known as Standard English. Johnson himself was aware that language is a living thing, always in flux.... www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Only 4 days left to sign up for this free webinar on ‘How to Start Learning Grant Writing’ on Wed 28 Jan 4pm CET / 5pm GMT—there are still a few places left!

www.eventbrite.com/e/1980620828...

Beowulf, the Nibelungenlied, and the Medieval Germanic Courtier Narrative The present article catalogues and analyzes a collection of motifs that Beowulf shares with the Nibelungenlied. It argues that these motifs constitute a courtier narrative, which focuses on a hero’...

📜 In “Beowulf, the Nibelungenlied, and the Medieval Germanic Courtier Narrative,” Leonard Neidorf sheds new light on how #Beowulf and Nibelungenlied hold similar literary motifs as courtier narratives that experiment with aesthetic form and character development. Check out the entire article👇:

'An Introduction to the New Cambridge History of the English Language' is the blog post by Raymond Hickey, editor of THE NEW CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
📚 https://cup.org/4qKArmv

'Priceless' medieval Shrewsbury school text found to be unique The 14th Century manuscript has been found to be the only complete copy of Richard Rolle's text.

Exciting discovery!
Mind you, I'm still hoping that we one day find a book written by a medieval housewife describing daily life in detail, especially about all the bathing they did ;)
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Tribute to Frances McSparran Dedicated to the memory of Frances McSparran

Tribute to Frances McSparran
francesmcsparran.muchloved.com

McSPARRAN, Frances: Death McSPARRAN - Frances passed away peacefully on 10th January 2026 at Nazareth Care Village. Beloved wife of the late Ernst Pulgram, she is survived by her loving nephews and nieces; Caitriona ,...

McSPARRAN, Frances: Death
notices.irishtimes.com/death/mcspar...

Desperately sad news about Deborah Cameron today. She was such a brilliant, incisive presence in the world of linguistics and particularly language and gender. Don't know what else to say but I'm sure there will be many tributes paid to her and her work in the days to come.

Very sad news to hear about the death of Deborah Cameron. Only just before Christmas Debbie agreed to chair the panel at the English Grammar Day this coming June. She will be missed!

Jobs: English; Sociolinguistics: Early Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Position, University of Bern (Switzerland) Other Specialties: Dialectology, Language Variation and Change Description: Prof David Britain is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher/Teacher to work in the Modern English Linguistics section of the Department of English at the University of Bern in Switzerland. The job role involves BA and MA teaching and thesis supervision (30%), administration for the section and the Department (10%) and research (60%). The position is for up to 4 years (non-renewable) and begins on 1st August 2026. The r

Jobs: English; Sociolinguistics: Early Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Position, University of Bern (Switzerland)

Cover of the UK edition of A History of England in 25 Poems https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/461263/a-history-of-england-in-25-poems-by-clarke-catherine/9780241765982

Cover of the US edition of A History of England in 25 Poems https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-History-of-England-in-Twenty-Five-Poems/Catherine-Clarke/9798897101580

Welcome new followers! I'm a historian and writer, Director of
@chppc.bsky.social & @vch-home.bsky.social. My new #history book, #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems, came out in the UK in 2025 and is coming in the US in 2026 (see AltText). 'A marvellous idea, quite brilliantly realised' -Dominic Sandbrook.

📢 #CfP #medievalsky #TOEBI
📜Theme: All Kinds of People
📅Date: Saturday, 24th October 2026
🏫Host: University of Nottingham
⏰Submission deadline: 30 March 2026
📚TOEBI is a supportive and collegial conference open to anyone involved in the teaching of Old English at any level.

📢Happy #medievalmonday, #medievalsky!
📜Here is our #OldEnglish Resource of the Week
📖Fontes Anglo-Saxonici: A Register of Written Sources Used by Anglo-Saxon Authors
📲 www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~cr30/Mercia...
✍️Christine Rauer & Amy Sansom
💻Jie Zheng & Bryan Yick
©️University of St Andrews