Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- Created 1878-1988 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
105 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Eugenie Jane Andrina Henderson was born on 2 October 1914. After leaving school she went to University College, London to read English, where she later studied phonetics under Daniel Jones. Although she specialised in phonetics and phonology, she also made an invaluable contribution to the field of general linguistics, and advanced the study of many South East Asian languages, notably Karen, Khasi, Thai and Chin. She married George Meier in 1941.
Her career at the School of Oriental and African Studies started in 1944, following a short spell working for the Ministry of Economic Welfare during the Second World War. She taught under Professor Firth, initially teaching Japanese to armed services personnel. She researched the subject of prosodic phonology, a theory advocated by Firth, and published several significant works in this field. She stayed on at SOAS after the end of the War, lecturing in the languages of South East Asia, and became Head of Department in 1960. During the six years of her appointment, she furthered the development of the department by introducing the study options of combining language courses with social anthropology or history. In 1966 she was appointed Head of the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, during which time she undertook much of her work on prosodic phonology. She became an honorary fellow of the School in 1985 and a Fellow of the British Academy in the following year.
Eugenie Henderson's published works included Tiddim Chin: a descriptive analysis of two texts (1965), The Domain of Phonetics (1965) and The Indispensable Foundation: a Selection from the Writings of Henry Sweet (1971). Her magnum opus was the compilation of material for a dictionary of Karen, although she died on 27 July 1989 before the work was published. In addition to having many of her own works published, Eugenie Henderson assisted in the publication of the works of other scholars like Gordon Luce, who wrote Pre-Pagan Burma.
Archival history
GB 0102 PP MS 45 Created 1878-1988 Collection (fonds) 105 boxes Henderson , Eugenie Jane Andrina , 1914-1989 , Professor of Phonetics
Eugenie Jane Andrina Henderson was born on 2 October 1914. After leaving school she went to University College, London to read English, where she later studied phonetics under Daniel Jones. Although she specialised in phonetics and phonology, she also made an invaluable contribution to the field of general linguistics, and advanced the study of many South East Asian languages, notably Karen, Khasi, Thai and Chin. She married George Meier in 1941.
Her career at the School of Oriental and African Studies started in 1944, following a short spell working for the Ministry of Economic Welfare during the Second World War. She taught under Professor Firth, initially teaching Japanese to armed services personnel. She researched the subject of prosodic phonology, a theory advocated by Firth, and published several significant works in this field. She stayed on at SOAS after the end of the War, lecturing in the languages of South East Asia, and became Head of Department in 1960. During the six years of her appointment, she furthered the development of the department by introducing the study options of combining language courses with social anthropology or history. In 1966 she was appointed Head of the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, during which time she undertook much of her work on prosodic phonology. She became an honorary fellow of the School in 1985 and a Fellow of the British Academy in the following year.
Eugenie Henderson's published works included Tiddim Chin: a descriptive analysis of two texts (1965), The Domain of Phonetics (1965) and The Indispensable Foundation: a Selection from the Writings of Henry Sweet (1971). Her magnum opus was the compilation of material for a dictionary of Karen, although she died on 27 July 1989 before the work was published. In addition to having many of her own works published, Eugenie Henderson assisted in the publication of the works of other scholars like Gordon Luce, who wrote Pre-Pagan Burma.
Donated in 1989.
Papers, 1878-1988, of Eugenie Henderson, comprising collected language, phonetics and linguistics material; conference papers and lecture notes from major linguistic conferences that she attended; socio-linguistic material; and papers from the societies and organisations to which she belonged.
As far as possible, papers have been classified according to Dr. Henderson's own system. They are arranged into 7 categories, comprising: language material (arranged alphabetically under individual language names or the language group name); phonetics papers (arranged alphabetically by author, with Henderson's papers at the beginning); linguistics material (arranged alphabetically by author, with Henderson's papers at the beginning and specific linguistic topics at the end); conference papers/lecture notes (arranged in chronological order); socio-linguistic material (arranged according to topic); societies/organisations (arranged alphabetically by society/organisation: Britain-Burma Society, British Academy, Cambridge University Press, Fellows of University College, Henry Sweet Society, International Phonetic Association, Linguistic Association of Great Britain, Oxford University Press, Philological Society); miscellaneous.
Unrestricted.
No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
Linguistic material in and about a large number of languages from around the world.
Unpublished handlist.
16 May 2000 Academic teaching personnel African languages Amerindian languages Asian languages Associations Austronesian and Oceanic languages Britain-Burma Society British Academy Cambridge University Press Educational personnel Henderson , Eugenie Jane Andrina , 1914-1989 , Professor of Phonetics Henry Sweet Society Indo-european languages International Phonetic Association Languages Linguistic Association of Great Britain Linguistics Myanmar Organizations Oxford University Press Philological Society Phonetics Semitic languages Sociolinguistics South East Asia Teachers University College London , Fellows Personnel People by occupation People
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated in 1989.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers, 1878-1988, of Eugenie Henderson, comprising collected language, phonetics and linguistics material; conference papers and lecture notes from major linguistic conferences that she attended; socio-linguistic material; and papers from the societies and organisations to which she belonged.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
As far as possible, papers have been classified according to Dr. Henderson's own system. They are arranged into 7 categories, comprising: language material (arranged alphabetically under individual language names or the language group name); phonetics papers (arranged alphabetically by author, with Henderson's papers at the beginning); linguistics material (arranged alphabetically by author, with Henderson's papers at the beginning and specific linguistic topics at the end); conference papers/lecture notes (arranged in chronological order); socio-linguistic material (arranged according to topic); societies/organisations (arranged alphabetically by society/organisation: Britain-Burma Society, British Academy, Cambridge University Press, Fellows of University College, Henry Sweet Society, International Phonetic Association, Linguistic Association of Great Britain, Oxford University Press, Philological Society); miscellaneous.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted.
Conditions governing reproduction
No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Linguistic material in and about a large number of languages from around the world.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Unpublished handlist.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- Educational personnel » Teachers » Academic teaching personnel
- African languages
- Amerindian languages
- Asian languages
- Organizations » Associations
- Austronesian and Oceanic languages
- Educational personnel
- Indo-european languages
- Languages
- Linguistics
- Organizations
- Linguistics » Phonetics
- African languages » Semitic languages
- Sociolinguistics
- Educational personnel » Teachers
- Personnel
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English