Link: http://s330.photobucket.com/albums/l418/robinstraaijer/4LModE%20Sheffield%20May%202010/

Thanks to Susan Fitzmaurice, Joan Beal and Jane Hodson for organising the Fourth Late Modern English conference at the University of Sheffield. It was another very good, focused conference. For those of the delegates who are interested, here are pictures from the Lord Mayor's reception at the Town Hall and the conference dinner at the Blue Moon Cafe.

I have just found a cup which was produced on the occasion of the coronation of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina. The text, "Kronings Feest 1898", contains a long s. Are there any differences in the retention of long s in English and Dutch? Jane Austen's gravestone similarly still contains long s, which seems to me rather late, for English anyway.

On his retirement from the University of Leiden, Professor Noel Osselton was presented with a collection of studies in Tieken & Frankis (eds.) 1991, Language usage and description, Amsterdam: Rodopi. Since Noel Osselton was a ‘dictionary man’, it was a pleasure

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In memory of Dr Vivien Law (1954-2002), and thanks to her generosity, a prize has been established for the best essay submitted on any topic within the history of linguistics. The competition is open to all currently registered students, and to those who have received their PhD or equivalent qualification within the last five years. The prize consists of 100 pounds and publication of the winning essay in the journal Language and History. The prize-winner is also entitled to one year's free membership of the Society and will receive a free copy of Vivien Law's The History of Linguistics in Europe from Cambridge University Press.

The closing date for submissions is 30 September. Entries may be written in English, French, or German, and should not exceed 8000 words.

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The International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE) offers the Richard M. Hogg Prize to Ph.D. students and recent graduates for a paper on a topic in English language or English linguistics. The closing date for submissions is 31 March 2008. For details see the following website:

http://www.englang.ed.ac.uk/isle/richard-hogg-prize.html