Elizabeth Theodora Uldall (; née Anderson; 30 November 1913 – 23 June 2004) was an American linguist and

phonetician Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

, who taught at the University of Edinburgh. Born in Kearney, Nebraska, she studied at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, New York and later went to London to study phonetics with Daniel Jones. Here she met Danish linguist Hans Jørgen Uldall, another student of Jones, and the two married. During World War II the couple worked for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

in locations such as Athens, Baghdad, Cairo and Alexandria. She joined the faculty of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1949. There she produced some of the earliest video recordings of the vibrating vocal folds, using herself as a subject. She also worked on the intonation and rhythm of African languages.Topics in linguistic phonetics : in honour of E.T. Uldall / edited by Jo-Ann W. Higgs, Robin Thelwall. Coleraine, N. Ireland : New University of Ulster, 1984

References

1913 births 2004 deaths Linguists from the United States Women linguists Phoneticians American expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century linguists {{US-linguist-stub