Wendy Ayres-Bennett is a British

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, Professor of French Philology and Linguistics at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, England, and Professorial Fellow in Linguistics at

Murray Edwards College Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall. In 2008, following a donation of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, it was renamed Murray Edwar ...

. She has a BA and MA in Modern Languages (French and German) from

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

and a D.Phil. from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Her doctoral thesis was " Vaugelas and the development of the French language: theory and practice". After her doctorate she spent a year as a Junior Research Fellow at

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it ...

and was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer (1983-1988), then Lecturer (1988-1998) and Reader (1998-2005), in the French Department at Cambridge. She became a Fellow of

(formerly New Hall) in 2001, and was appointed Professor of French Philology and Linguistics in 2005. In 2009 she joined the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. Her main research interests are the history of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

and the history of linguistic thought. Her research interests include standardisation and codification, linguistic ideology and policy, variation and change. She is Principal Investigator on the multi-disciplinary multi-institution MEITS project: Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies., funded by the AHRC under its Open World Research Initiative (2016-2020). The project is working closely with policymakers and practitioners to promote the value of languages for key issues of our time and the benefits of language learning for individuals and societies. In 2004 she was appointed as Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. The

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

awarded her a Prix d’Académie in 1997 for her "Remarques de l’Académie française sur le Quinte-Curce de Vaugelas" and a silver medal of the Prix Georges Dumézil in 2013 for "Remarques et observations sur la langue française. Histoire et évolution d’un genre".

Selected publications

*''Vaugelas and the Development of the French Language'' (1987, MHRA: ) *''A History of the French Language through Texts'' (1996, Routledge: ) *''Les Remarques de l’Académie Française sur le Quinte-Curce de Vaugelas 1719-1720: contribution à une histoire de la norme grammaticale & rhétorique en France '' (1996, co-authored with Philippe Caron; Presses de l’Ecole normale supérieure: ) *''Interpreting the History of French. A Festschrift for Peter Rickard on the occasion of his eightieth birthday'' (2002, co-edited with Rodney Sampson Rodopi: ) *''Problems and Perspectives: Studies in the Modern French Language'' (2000, co-authored with Janice Carruthers, Longman Linguistics Library: ) *''Sociolinguistic Variation in Seventeenth-century France: Methodology and Case Studies'' (2004, Cambridge UP: ) *''The French Language and Questions of Identity'' (2007, co-edited with Mari C. Jones, Legenda: ) *''Remarques et observations sur la langue française : histoire et évolution d’un genre'' (2011, co-authored with Magali Seijido; Éditions Classiques Garnie: ) *''Bon Usage et variation sociolinguistique: Perspectives diachroniques et traditions nationales'', (2013, Co-edited with Magali Seijido: ENS Éditions: ) *''L’Histoire du français : État des lieux et perspectives'' (2014, co-edited with Thomas Rainsford; Éditions Classiques Garnier: ) *''Manual of Romance Sociolinguistics'' (2018, co-edited with Janice Carruthers, Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter: ) *''Claude Favre de Vaugelas, Remarques sur la langue française'' (2018), Paris: Editions Classiques Garnier: )

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres-Bennett Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British women academics Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Fellows of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge Language education in the United Kingdom British women linguists Historical linguists Linguists of French Romance philologists Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Linguists from the United Kingdom