Did the pronoun "I" change its meaning in the 16th century? How have people drawn on metaphors from the field of poultry to describe one another? What exactly did the Anglo-Saxons mean when they talked about "juniper"?

These are some of the questions which will engage the 200 delegates to the twelfth International Conference on English Historical Linguistics being held at the University of Glasgow from August 21-6. Participants come from 20 countries around the world, with the largest delegations from outside the UK drawn from Finland and Japan, where interest in this subject is strong. The primary focus of the 100 talks and workshops is on how language changes across time.

One of the highlights of the conference will be a celebration of the completion of the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (DOST), a monumental work of Scots lexicography covering the language up to 1700. This 12-volume work has been in progress for the last 80 years, supported by Scottish Universities and charitable foundations. Conference delegates will hear a talk by Marace Dareau, former Senior Editor of DOST and now Editorial Director of Scottish Language Dictionaries, on "DOST: a significant instance of historical lexicography". They will also have their first chance to admire the final volumes of the dictionary at a reception sponsored by its publishers, Oxford University Press, on August 24.

For further information about the conference, contact Prof. Christian Kay, Department of English Language, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ
Tel: 0141 330 4150
c.kay@englang.arts.gla.ac.uk
http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/ EngLang/ICEHL/ICEHL12.htm

For further information about the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, contact Scottish Language Dictionaries, 27 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LD
Tel: 0131 650 4149
mail@sldl.org.uk
www.sldl.org.uk

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

First published: 19 August 2002