We are very happy to announce the publication of the textbook on Historical Sociolinguistics (CUP) by Prof. Rutten and Prof. Vosters!

Description:

Historical Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and society in its historical dimension. This is the first textbook to introduce this vibrant field, based on examples and case studies taken from a variety of languages. Chapters begin with clear explanations of core concepts, which are then applied to historical contexts from different languages, such as English, French, Hindi and Mandarin. The volume uses several pedagogical methods, allowing readers to gain a deeper understanding of the theory and of examples. A list of key terms is provided, covering the main theoretical and methodological issues discussed. The book also includes a range of exercises and short further reading sections for students. It is ideal for students of sociolinguistics and historical linguistics, as well as providing a basic introduction to historical sociolinguistics for anyone with an interest in linguistics or social history.

You can find a link to the textbook here!

On Monday, 2 February 2026, Yasmin Crombez obtained her PhD following an excellent defense of her dissertation entitled

“Van het beloofde land: een historisch-sociolinguïstisch onderzoek naar het Belgisch-Nederlands als heritage taal in Noord-Amerika.”

Her work was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Wim Vandenbussche and Prof. Dr. Rik Vosters (VUB).

Congratulations, Dr. Crombez!!

Dr. Magda Serwadczak recently published a piece about her research on orality, literacy and entextualization in historical criminal records (1700-1900) for the OUTLAW-project.

You can read more about it on the project’s website:

https://outlawtales.blog/2025/06/26/onderzoek-getuigen-aan-het-woord/

On Friday, 6 June, at the stunning Vaudeville Theatre in Brussels, Prof. Dr. Em. Terttu Nevalainen received an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She was honored for her groundbreaking contributions to the field of historical sociolinguistics – particularly her pioneering work in large-scale corpus building, her innovative use of quantitative methods to study language variation and change, and her influential insights into linguistic communities (in the history of English).

In this video, professors Wim Vandenbussche and Rik Vosters reflect on Terttu’s achievements.

Congratulations, Terttu!

One of our team’s researchers, Samantha Pérez Rodríguez, was granted the chance to participate in the Languages in the City Symposium, hosted by Utrecht University from 7 to 8 April 2025.

In her talk “Andalusian Spanish in Brussels: Dialectal Variation of Coda /s/ in a Heritage Context” she shared insights from both her master’s thesis and ongoing research, focusing on the diversity of Spanish heritage varieties in Brussels.

Congratulations, Samantha!

This past April 4 2025, our team had the opportunity to present their work at the eleventh edition of the Sociolinguistic Circle at Leiden University.

Julie Van Ongeval and Rik Vosters provided an overview of recent research in historical sociolinguistics on the history of Dutch in their plenary talk, “Unraveling myths in Dutch language history. A case study on language variation and change in Early Modern Antwerp (1564-1653)”, reassessing and unraveling entrenched myths in Dutch language history.

Additionally, Emma Lambrecht presented her master’s thesis “From Spoken Word to Written Text: Tracing Speech Patterns in 19th-Century West Flemish Pauper Letters and Witness Depositions”, deepening the understanding of historical spoken vernaculars perceived through the written medium and reflecting on the suitability of lower-order letters versus witness depositions as sources to approach past speech.

Congratulations to all of them!