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!