Linguistics

The Forbes Chair of English Language and General Linguistics was instituted in 1947. A discrete Lectureship in General Linguistics was created in 1958, and in 1964 a Chair of General Linguistics was established. The Chair of English Language and General Linguistics was renamed the Chair of English Language, and a separate Department of General Linguistics was set up in 1966.

Meanwhile, a Department of Phonetics has been established under David Abercombie (1909-1992) (Lecturer in Phonetics from 1948, Reader from 1957, and Personal Chair in Phonetics from 1964). In 1968, the Departments of Phonetics and General Linguistics merged to become the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics.

A Lectureship and Department of Applied Linguistics was established in 1964. In 1969, this merged with the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics to become the Department of Linguistics. A Chair of Advanced Linguistics was established in 1970 (or is this a Personal Chair?).

A separate Chair of Linguistics was created in 1978.

Applied Linguistics becomes a separate Department in 1986 (under A. Davies). New Chair of Applied Linguistics: 1992

Professors of General Linguistics

• 1964-1976: Sir John Lyons (1932- )
• 1979-2007: James R. Hurford (1941- )
• 2007- : Geoffrey Keith Pullum (1945- )

Professors of Applied Linguistics

• 1970-1983: Stephen Pit Corder (1918-1990)
• 1992-1995: Alan Davies
• 1996- : John E. Joseph

Professors of Linguistics

• 1978-1993: Ron Asher (nobody in place by 1995)
• 1997-2011: D. Robert Ladd

Nikolas Gisborne (no, that's a sodding personal chair again)