Joan Hazel Carter (22 February 1928 – 3 August 2016) was a British-American linguist, known in particular for her work on the Bantu languages,

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

Kongo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. Born on 22 February 1928 to Charles and Constance Wilkinson, Carter graduated from the County Grammar School for Girls in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

, Kent, England in 1947 and received a full scholarship to attend

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, Oxford, England where she was a member of St. Hugh's College from 1947 to 1950. Carter conducted fieldwork on Shona In 1952 (in present-day

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

) and on Tonga from 1957 to 1960 (in present-day

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

). A post-graduate scholar at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

(SOAS) at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, she became a lecturer in Bantu Languages at SOAS in 1954. In 1971 she received her doctorate with a dissertation entitled, "Syntactic Tone Phrases in Kongo," which was published in 1973 under the title, "Syntax and Tone in Kikongo." She was promoted to Reader in Bantu Languages at SOAS in 1971, a post she held until 1983. After one year as a visiting professor at the Department of African Languages & Literature at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in 1980–1981, Carter retired from SOAS and moved permanently to the United States. At the University of Wisconsin, she was first an Honorary Research Fellow, then a Visiting Professor, and finally she became Full Professor in 1986. She retired in June 1995 and was appointed Professor Emerita. In 2001 she received the Distinguished Services Award from the African Language Teachers Association. In addition to her many other achievements, Hazel (the name she used in the knitting world) was an accomplished Shetland Lace knitter, teacher and author. Her designs are included in several printed books, and individual patterns continue to be available online.

Key publications

* Carter, Hazel. 1971 and 1972. Morphotonology of Zambian Tonga: Some Developments of Meeussen's System. ''African Language Studies'' 12: 1-30 and 14: 36–52. * Carter, Hazel. 1973. ''Syntax and Tone in Kikongo''. London: SOAS. * Carter, Hazel and G. P. Kahari. 1981
Shona Language Course, Books I, II and III
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse. * Carter, Hazel and João Makoondekwa. c. 1987. ''Kongo language course : a course in the dialect of Zoombo, northern Angola = Maloòngi makíkoongo''. Madison, WI : African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin—Madison. * Carter, Hazel. 2002. ''An outline of Chitonga grammar''. Lusaka: Zambia: Bookworld Publishers, 2002.

References

External links

Oral History Interview: Hazel Carter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Hazel British linguists Women linguists Bantu languages 1928 births 2016 deaths University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Academics of SOAS University of London British emigrants to the United States People in knitting