Laura Soames’ contributions to phonetics
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).
References (72)
References
Anon. 1895a. “[Obituary of Laura Soames]”. The Times, 25 January 1895, 7f.
Anon. 1895b. “[Obituary of Laura Soames]”. Brighton Gazette & Sussex Telegraph, 26 January 1895, 5c.
Anon. 1895c. “[Obituary of Laura Soames]”. Brighton Guardian & Hove Recorder, 30 January 1895, 5d.
Anon. 1895d. “Laura Soames”. Journal of Education, March 1895, 174–175.
Ascoli, Graziadio Isaia. 1873. “Saggi ladini”. Archivio Glottologico Italiano 11.1–556.
Brebner, Mary. 1898. The Method of Teaching Modern Languages in Germany. Cambridge: C. J. Clay & Sons.
Bronstein, Arthur J. et al., eds. 1977. A Biographical Dictionary of the Phonetic Sciences. New York: Press of Lehman College.
Bretegnier, Charles. 1897. “Roumanche de Tarasp, Engadine, Grisons”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai-juin 1897, p. 121.
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.
Charities Aid Foundation. 1993. Directory of Grant-Making Trusts 1993. Tonbridge: Charities Aid Foundation.
Fowler, [Miss]. 1894. “[Extract from letter on the advantages of Laura Soames’ phonetic methods for teaching reading]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai 1894, p.89.
Gartner, Theodor. (1843–1925). 1883. Rätoromanische Grammatik. Heilbronn: Gebr. Henninger.
Grandgent, Charles Hall. 1894. Review of Soames (1893a). Le Maître Phonétique, octobre 1894, 159–161.
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.
Howatt, Anthony P. R. 1984. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
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.]
Jespersen, Otto. 1892. Review of Soames (1891a). Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1892, 48–49.
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.
Kohler, Klaus. 1981. “Three Trends in Phonetics: The development of phonetics as a discipline in Germany since the nineteenth century”. Ibid., 161–178.
MacMahon, Michael K. C. 1983. “Thomas Hallam and the Study of Dialect and Educated Speech”. Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society 151.19–31.
MacMahon, Michael K. C. 1985. “James Murray and the Phonetic Notation in the New English Dictionary”. Transactions of the Philological Society 1985.72–112.
MacMahon, Michael K. C. 1986. “The International Phonetic Association: The first 100 years”. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 161.30–38.
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1887. “Expérianses d’un professeur d’Anglais sur la nouvèle métode d’enseignement”. Englische Studien 101.506–514.
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1889. Les Sons du Français. Paris: Firmin-Didot.
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1895. “Miss Soames”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1895, 56–58.
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1897. “Roumanche de Prets-Heinzenberg, Oberland, Grisons”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai-juin 1897, p.121.
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1898. “[Note on the disbursement of funds from the Will of Laura Soames]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars-avril 1898, 55–56.
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1900. Review of Soames (1899 [= 2nd ed. of 1891a]). Le Maître Phonétique, février-mars 1900, 29–30.
Passy, Paul Édouard. 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].
Passy, Paul Édouard. 1913. “Review of Soames (1913a [= 3rd ed. of 1891a]) and (1913b [= 2nd ed. of 1897]). Le Maître Phonétique, juillet-août 1913, 96–97.
Pop, Sever. (1901–1961). 1950. La Dialectologie: Aperçu historique et méthodes d’enquêtes linguistiques. Première partie. Louvain: J. Duculot.
Schröer, Arnold. (1857–1935). 1895. “Laura Soames†”. Englische Studien 211.197–199.
Soames, Laura. 1880. Scheme of English Spelling Reform. London: F. Pitman.
Soames, Laura. 1882. A Three-Years’ Course of Bible Reading for Private Use, Based upon the Book of Common Prayer. London: Hatchards.
Soames, Laura. 1887–88. “First Steps Towards Teaching Phonetics”. Journal of Education, December 1887, 523–524, May 1888, 234–238.
Soames, Laura. 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.
Soames, Laura. 1889a. “On English Stress”. Le Maître Phonétique, mars 1889, 34–35.
Soames, Laura. 1889b. “[Letter concerning the unstressed vowel in outcome etc.]”. Le Maître Phonétique, mai 1889.56.
Soames, Laura. 1889c. “[Transcription of vowel of get]”. Le Maître Phonétique, juin 1889, 68–69.
Soames, Laura. 1890a. “[Letter concerning phonetic spelling in the mf, and a standard form of English speech]”. Le Maître Phonétique, février 1890, 19–22.
Soames, Laura. 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.
Soames, Laura. 1890c. “Notes on the Sounds of the Romanch or Romanese of the Upper Engadine”. Phonetische Studien 31.154–161.
Soames, Laura. 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.
Soames, Laura. 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.)
Soames, Laura. 1891b. A Phonetic Reading Book (English, French and German) with Exercises. London: S. Sonnenschein.
Soames, Laura. 1891c. “[Use of syllabic /s/ in English]”. Le Maître Phonétique, janvier 1891, p.13.
Soames, Laura. 1891d. “American Pronunciation”. Le Maître Phonétique, juin 1891, p.75.
Soames, Laura. 1891e. Review of Sweet (1890a). Phonetische Studien 41.369–379.
Soames, Laura. 1892a. Review of Sweet (1890a, 1890b). Englische Studien 161.107–113.
Soames, Laura. 1892b. “Weak Words in English”. Le Maître Phonétique, avril 1892, 63–64.
Soames, Laura. 1892c. “[Letter to the Editor: Introduction to Phonetics]”. Modern Language Notes 7:5.314–315.
Soames, Laura. 1892d. “Answer to Dr. Sweet”. Phonetische Studien 51.119–120.
Soames, Laura. 1893a. Albany Phonetic Reader. London: S. Sonnenschein.
Soames, Laura. 1893b. “Our Alphabet”. Le Maître Phonétique, juillet 1893, 98–100.
Soames, Laura. 1893c. “[Letter in answer to question about stress-points in (mainly) compound nouns in English]”. Le Maître Phonétique, juillet 1893, 106107.
Soames, Laura. 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.]
Soames, Laura. 1894a. The Child’s Key to Reading. London: S. Sonnenschein.
Soames, Laura. 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.
Soames, Laura. 1894c. “Unstressed Words in English”. Le Maître Phonétique, octobre 1894, p.158.
Soames, Laura. 1897. The Teacher’s Manual. Edited by Wilhelm Viëtor. London: S. Sonnenschein. (2nd ed., 1913.)
Spieser, Hans. 1904. Ein Klassenversuch mit der begrifflichen Methode im ersten Leseunterricht. Leipzig: K. G. T. Scheffer.
Spieser, Hans. 1912. “Das Begriffliche Lehrverfahren, insbesondere beim Lesenlehren”. Beilage zum Maître Phonétique, mai-juin 1912.
Sweet, Henry. 1877. Handbook of Phonetics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sweet, Henry. 1885. Elementarbuch des gesprochenen Englisch. Ibid.
Sweet, Henry. 1886. “The Teaching of Phonetics”. Journal of Education, April 1886, 148–149.
Sweet, Henry. 1889. “On English Stress”. Le Maître Phonétique, février 1889, p.18.
Sweet, Henry. 1890a. A Primer of Phonetics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sweet, Henry. 1890b. A Primer of Spoken English. Ibid.
Sweet, Henry. 1892. “Answer to Miss Soames”. Phonetische Studien 51.117–119.
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.]
Viëtor, Wilhelm. 1894. “Laura Soames†”. Die Neueren Sprachen 21.489–491.
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