Category: news

New Historical Sociolinguistics textbook

 

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!

PhD defense Yasmin Crombez

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!!

New publication “Heritage Spanish in Brussels” by Samantha Pérez Rodríguez, An Vande Casteele and Rik Vosters

A new article by Samantha Pérez Rodríguez, together with her supervisors An Vande Casteele and Rik Vosters, has just been published in Spanish in Context!

Titled “Heritage Spanish in Brussels: Case study on coda /s/ production by Andalusian women”, it examines coda /s/ weakening in Andalusian Spanish as a heritage language by analyzing the speech of first- and second-generation Andalusian immigrants in the city, focusing on perceptual categorization, acoustic evidence of frication, and duration.

The article can be accessed here.

 

 

 

 

New publication “Newspapers as a window into language beliefs of the past” by Yasmin Crombez

Yasmin Crombez recently contributed a chapter titled “Newspapers as a window into language beliefs of the past: Language contact and conflict in Flemish-American press” to the volume Dutch and Contact Linguistics: The Dutch language outside the Low Countries. In this chapter, she explores the language ideologies of Flemish emigrants in the United States, with a specific focus on the sociolinguistic environments both before and after the migration.

You can access the chapter via this link!

VUB Honorary Doctorate Terttu Nevalainen

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!

New publication “Spanish as Immigrant Minority Language in Brussels” by Samantha Pérez Rodríguez, An Vande Casteele and Rik Vosters

Samantha Pérez Rodríguez’ paper entitled “Spanish as Immigrant Minority Language in Brussels: A Pilot Study on Maintenance and Vitality” was recently published in Languages. Co-authored with her supervisors, An Vande Casteele and Rik Vosters, the paper presents an exploratory study on the language practices of the Hispanic communities in Brussels, examining patterns of language transmission, home language use and integration.

The publication can be accessed here!

Dr. Lismont in de media!

Het doctoraatsonderzoek van Eline Lismont kreeg de afgelopen weken heel wat media-aandacht!

Het verscheen in De Standaard onder de titel “Met regels roei je geen taalfouten uit (en dat is oké)”– voor de volledige versie van het artikel, zie ook: Lismont_De _Standaard.

Daarnaast werd haar onderzoek gedeeld via Bruzz (VUB-onderzoekster bestudeert evolutie van het Nederlands door eeuwen heen) en Neerlandistiek (‘Groter als’ of ‘groter dan’? Waarom eeuwenoude taalregels soms niet ingeburgerd raken).

Eline gaf ook een interview voor Radio1, waarin ze dieper inging op de vraag waarom sommige grammaticaregels ingeburgerd raken in het taalgebruik en andere niet.

Bekijk zeker ook onze eerdere post: https://www.historicalsociolinguistics.be/artikel-promotieonderzoek-eline-lismont/

Proficiat, Eline!