Cover not available

Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 21:1/2 (1994) ► pp.103–121

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Laura Soames’ contributions to phonetics

 | University of Glasgow
Published online: 1 January 1994
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.21.1-2.06mac
Summary
Laura Soames (1840–1895) came to the attention of the teaching and phonetics professions through her work in applying phonetic principles to the teaching of reading and to the pronunciation of English and foreign languages. Lauded by many European phoneticians, she was despised by Henry Sweet – much to his discredit. Her publications, especially the Introduction to Phonetics (English, French and German) (1891) and The Child’s Key to Reading (1894) reveal a capacity to simplify the more technical expositions of phonetic theory in order to achieve a popular and readable exposition of the subject. Together with a number of other phoneticians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, she represents the bridge between the work of Henry Sweet (1845–1912) and Daniel Jones (1881–1967).
Résumé
Laura Soames (1840–1895) s’est revélée au corps professoral et aux spécialistes de phonétique par son travail sur l’application des principes phonétiques à l’enseignement de la lecture et de la prononciation de l’anglais et des langues étrangères. Célebrée par de nombreux spécialistes européens, elle a été condamnée par Henry Sweet. Ses publications, spécialement Introduction to Phonetics (English, French and German) (1891) et The Child’s Key to Reading (1894) revèlent une capacité pour simplifier les explications les plus techniques de la théorie phonétique afin d’atteindre une explication populaire et facile à apprendre. Avec d’autres phonéticiens de la fin du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle, entre autres Richard Lloyd (1846–1906) et Irene Williams (1877–1925), elle représente un pont entre les travaux d’Henry Sweet (1845–1912) et ceux de Daniel Jones (1881–1967).
Zusammenfassung
Laura Soames (1840–1895) erregte die Aufmerksamkeit der Lehrberufe und der Phonetiker durch ihre vielfältigen Bemühungen, phonetische Prinzipien auf den Leseunterricht und die Aussprache von Englisch und Fremdsprachen anzuwenden. Sie wurde von vielen europäischen Phonetikern, insbesondere von Wilhelm Viëtor (1850–1918), gefeiert, jedoch verachtet von Henry Sweet (1845–1912). Ihre Veröffentlichungen, besonders die Introduction to Phonetics (English, French and German) (1891) und The Child’s Key to Reading (1894), zeigen ihre Fähigkeit, die technischen Einzelheiten der phonetischen Theorie zu vereinfachen und eine allgemeine und leserfreundliche Erläuterung dieses Gebietes zu leisten. Zusammen mit anderen Phonetikern des späten 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderts, u.a. Richard Lloyd (1846–1906) und Irene Williams (1877–1925), gelang es ihr, eine Verbindung zwischen der Arbeit von Henry Sweet und Daniel Jones (1881–1967) herzustellen.
References (72)
References
Anon. 1895a. “[Obituary of Laura Soames]”. The Times, 25 January 1895, 7f.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1895b. “[Obituary of Laura Soames]”. Brighton Gazette & Sussex Telegraph, 26 January 1895, 5c.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1895c. “[Obituary of Laura Soames]”. Brighton Guardian & Hove Recorder, 30 January 1895, 5d.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1895d. “Laura Soames”. Journal of Education, March 1895, 174–175.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ascoli, Graziadio Isaia. 1873. “Saggi ladini”. Archivio Glottologico Italiano 11.1–556.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brebner, Mary. 1898. The Method of Teaching Modern Languages in Germany. Cambridge: C. J. Clay & Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bronstein, Arthur J. et al., eds. 1977. A Biographical Dictionary of the Phonetic Sciences. New York: Press of Lehman College.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bretegnier, Charles. 1897. “Roumanche de Tarasp, Engadine, Grisons”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai-juin 1897, p. 121.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cawthorn, Alice M. 1878. Lessons on the Gospels for Sundays and Holydays […]. With critical and explanatory notes by Laura Soames. London: Church of England Sunday School Institute.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Charities Aid Foundation. 1993. Directory of Grant-Making Trusts 1993. Tonbridge: Charities Aid Foundation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fowler, [Miss]. 1894. “[Extract from letter on the advantages of Laura Soames’ phonetic methods for teaching reading]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai 1894, p.89.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gartner, Theodor. (1843–1925). 1883. Rätoromanische Grammatik. Heilbronn: Gebr. Henninger.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grandgent, Charles Hall. 1894. Review of Soames (1893a). Le Maître Phonétique, octobre 1894, 159–161.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hart, John. 1569. An Orthographie, Conteyning the Due Order and Reason, Howe to Write or Paint Thimage of Mannes Voice, Most Like to the Life or Nature. London: W. Serres.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Howatt, Anthony P. R. 1984. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jackson, Robert. 1914. “Phonetics and Phonetic Texts in the Teaching of Reading”. Miscellanea Phonetica I1, 33–37. London: Intl. Phonetic Association. [Distributed as Supplément du Maître Phonétique 1925.3337.]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jespersen, Otto. 1892. Review of Soames (1891a). Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1892, 48–49.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kelly, John. 1981. “The 1847 Alphabet: An episode of phonotypy”. Towards a History of Phonetics ed. by R. E. Asher & E. J. A. Henderson, 248–264. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kohler, Klaus. 1981. “Three Trends in Phonetics: The development of phonetics as a discipline in Germany since the nineteenth century”. Ibid., 161–178.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1983. “Thomas Hallam and the Study of Dialect and Educated Speech”. Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society 151.19–31.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1985. “James Murray and the Phonetic Notation in the New English Dictionary”. Transactions of the Philological Society 1985.72–112.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1986. “The International Phonetic Association: The first 100 years”. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 161.30–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1887. “Expérianses d’un professeur d’Anglais sur la nouvèle métode d’enseignement”. Englische Studien 101.506–514.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1889. Les Sons du Français. Paris: Firmin-Didot.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1895. “Miss Soames”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1895, 56–58.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1897. “Roumanche de Prets-Heinzenberg, Oberland, Grisons”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai-juin 1897, p.121.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1898. “[Note on the disbursement of funds from the Will of Laura Soames]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars-avril 1898, 55–56.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1900. Review of Soames (1899 [= 2nd ed. of 1891a]). Le Maître Phonétique, février-mars 1900, 29–30.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1902. “[Answer to question concerning the Soames’ method of teaching reading]”. Le Maître Phonétique, février 1902, p.44 [see also Le Maître Phonétique, octobre-novembre 1901, p. 134].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1913. “Review of Soames (1913a [= 3rd ed. of 1891a]) and (1913b [= 2nd ed. of 1897]). Le Maître Phonétique, juillet-août 1913, 96–97.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pop, Sever. (1901–1961). 1950. La Dialectologie: Aperçu historique et méthodes d’enquêtes linguistiques. Première partie. Louvain: J. Duculot.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schröer, Arnold. (1857–1935). 1895. “Laura Soames†”. Englische Studien 211.197–199.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Soames, Laura. 1880. Scheme of English Spelling Reform. London: F. Pitman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1882. A Three-Years’ Course of Bible Reading for Private Use, Based upon the Book of Common Prayer. London: Hatchards.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1887–88. “First Steps Towards Teaching Phonetics”. Journal of Education, December 1887, 523–524, May 1888, 234–238.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1888. “[Letter concerning sequences of three consonants in French; nasalized vowel in mon ami; Curwen’s rule for word-accent in English]”. Phonetic Teacher, December 1888, 492–493.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1889a. “On English Stress”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1889, 34–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1889b. “[Letter concerning the unstressed vowel in outcome etc.]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai 1889.56.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1889c. “[Transcription of vowel of get]”. Le Maître Phonétique, juin 1889, 68–69.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1890a. “[Letter concerning phonetic spelling in the mf, and a standard form of English speech]”. Le Maître Phonétique, février 1890, 19–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1890b. “[Letter concerning the ability of young children to ‘observe some of the chief distinctions between the sounds of speech’]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1890, p.31.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1890c. “Notes on the Sounds of the Romanch or Romanese of the Upper Engadine”. Phonetische Studien 31.154–161.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1890d. “[Letter concerning doubling of symbols to indicate length; stress in Finnish; usefulness of information in the mf about orthoepy]”. Le Maître Phonétique, novembre 1890, p.95.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1891a. An Introduction to Phonetics (English, French and German) with Reading Lessons and Exercises. London: S. Sonnenschein; New York: Macmillan. (2nd ed., 1899, 3rd ed., 1913, both prepared by Wilhelm Viëtor.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1891b. A Phonetic Reading Book (English, French and German) with Exercises. London: S. Sonnenschein.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1891c. “[Use of syllabic /s/ in English]”. Le Maître Phonétique, janvier 1891, p.13.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1891d. “American Pronunciation”. Le Maître Phonétique, juin 1891, p.75.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1891e. Review of Sweet (1890a). Phonetische Studien 41.369–379.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1892a. Review of Sweet (1890a, 1890b). Englische Studien 161.107–113.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1892b. “Weak Words in English”. Le Maître Phonétique, avril 1892, 63–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1892c. “[Letter to the Editor: Introduction to Phonetics]”. Modern Language Notes 7:5.314–315. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1892d. “Answer to Dr. Sweet”. Phonetische Studien 51.119–120.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1893a. Albany Phonetic Reader. London: S. Sonnenschein.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1893b. “Our Alphabet”. Le Maître Phonétique, juillet 1893, 98–100.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1893c. “[Letter in answer to question about stress-points in (mainly) compound nouns in English]”. Le Maître Phonétique, juillet 1893, 106107.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1893d. “[First Codicil to the Last Will and Testament of Laura Soames, 18 December 1893”]. [Probate was granted on 18 February 1895.] London: Somerset House. [Unpublished.]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1894a. The Child’s Key to Reading. London: S. Sonnenschein.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1894b. “[Letter in answer to query about how to annotate cheers in English texts; mark-scales used in schools]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1894, p.56.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1894c. “Unstressed Words in English”. Le Maître Phonétique, octobre 1894, p.158.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1897. The Teacher’s Manual. Edited by Wilhelm Viëtor. London: S. Sonnenschein. (2nd ed., 1913.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spieser, Hans. 1904. Ein Klassenversuch mit der begrifflichen Methode im ersten Leseunterricht. Leipzig: K. G. T. Scheffer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1912. “Das Begriffliche Lehrverfahren, insbesondere beim Lesenlehren”. Beilage zum Maître Phonétique, mai-juin 1912.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sweet, Henry. 1877. Handbook of Phonetics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1885. Elementarbuch des gesprochenen Englisch. Ibid.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1886. “The Teaching of Phonetics”. Journal of Education, April 1886, 148–149.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1889. “On English Stress”. Le Maître Phonétique, février 1889, p.18.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1890a. A Primer of Phonetics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1890b. A Primer of Spoken English. Ibid.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1892. “Answer to Miss Soames”. Phonetische Studien 51.117–119.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Viëtor, Wilhelm. 1884. Elemente der Fonetik und Orthoepie des Deutschen, Englischen und Französischen. Heilbronn: Gebr. Henninger. (2nd ed., 1887; 3rd ed., 1890; 4th ed., 1895, Leipzig: O. R. Reisland; 5th ed., 1904; 6th ed., 1914). [Title varies.]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1894. “Laura Soames†”. Die Neueren Sprachen 21.489–491.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue