Olga Fischer (; born 5 April 1951) is a Dutch

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and an expert on the English language. She is Professor Emerita of Germanic Linguistics at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

and former president of the

International Society for the Linguistics of English The International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE), founded in 2008, is a learned society of linguists. The organization's goals are to promote the study of the English Language at an international level, with a particular focus on the ...

. Fischer has published extensively in the area of English historical linguistics, especially historical

syntax In linguistics, syntax ( ) is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituenc ...

, where her interests in syntactic change relate to changes in

word order In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how languages employ different orders. Correlatio ...

, comparison with developments in other

West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germ ...

languages,

grammaticalization Grammaticalization (also known as grammatization or grammaticization) is a linguistic process in which words change from representing objects or actions to serving grammatical functions. Grammaticalization can involve content words, such as noun ...

, and the interaction between grammaticalization and

iconicity In functional- cognitive linguistics, as well as in semiotics, iconicity is the conceived similarity or analogy between the form of a sign (linguistic or otherwise) and its meaning, as opposed to arbitrariness (which is typically assumed i ...

language change Language change is the process of alteration in the features of a single language, or of languages in general, over time. It is studied in several subfields of linguistics: historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and evolutionary linguistic ...

.University of Amsterdam
/ref>

Background and career

Fischer was born in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...

in 1951. She holds an M. A. in the History of English and General Linguistics from

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

(1975) and an M. A. () in English Language and Literature from the University of Amsterdam (1976, cum laude). She obtained her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the University of Amsterdam (1990, cum laude) with a thesis entitled ''Syntactic Change and Causation: Developments in Infinitival Constructions in English''. Fischer was professor of Germanic Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam from 1999 until her retirement in 2016. During her academic career, she was a visiting scholar the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and a visiting professor at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

, the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, and the University of Lille III. Fischer served as President of the Societas Linguistica Europaea in 2011.Presidents and Annual Meetings of the Societas Linguistica Europaea
/ref> From 2014 to 2016 she was President of the

."Olga Fischer president of ISLE"
/ref>

Research

Fischer's research has focused on the history of English, in particular on morphosyntactic changes in the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

periods. In this field, she has worked on the development of

infinitive Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all ...

s, on word order changes within the

noun phrase A noun phrase – or NP or nominal (phrase) – is a phrase that usually has a noun or pronoun as its head, and has the same grammatical functions as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently ...

, and on the role played by

analogy Analogy is a comparison or correspondence between two things (or two groups of things) because of a third element that they are considered to share. In logic, it is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as oppose ...

in language change. Some of her other interests are

and

in language, and the interrelation between these two phenomena. She has also been concerned with the ontological status of grammaticalization, and whether it should be regarded as an

epiphenomenon An epiphenomenon (plural: epiphenomena) is a secondary phenomenon that occurs alongside or in parallel to a primary phenomenon. The word has two senses: one that connotes known causation and one that connotes absence of causation or reservat ...

or a separate mechanism in language change. This question is dealt with extensively in her book ''Morphosyntactic Change'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2007), which compares

formal Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements ( forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to: Dress code and events * Formal wear, attire for formal events * Semi-formal atti ...

and functional approaches to historical linguistics and language change.Oxford University Press
/ref> Fischer has co-organized several international symposia on iconicity and is one of the editors of the book series ''Iconicity in Language and Literature'', published by

John Benjamins John Benjamins Publishing Company is an independent academic publisher in social sciences and humanities with its head office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was founded in the 1960s by John and Claire Benjamins and is currently managed ...

.John Benjamins
/ref> Since 1998 she has been the editor of the language section of ''The Year's Work in English Studies'', published by the

English Association The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by ...

.The Year's Work in English Studies
/ref>

Selected publications

As (co-)author

* ''Morphosyntactic Change: Functional and Formal Perspectives''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. * (with Wim van der Wurff), "Syntax", in Richard M. Hogg and

David Denison David Michael Benjamin Denison (born 6 September 1950) is a British linguist whose work focuses on the history of the English language. Biography He was educated at Highgate School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics ...

(eds.): ''A History of the English Language''. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2006. * (with

Ans van Kemenade Ans van Kemenade (born 1954 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch professor of English linguistics at the Radboud University Nijmegen specializing in the history of the English language. Biography Van Kemenade studied English and linguistics at Utrecht Univer ...

, Willem Koopman and Wim van der Wurff), ''The Syntax of Early English''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. * "Syntax", in Norman Blake (ed.): ''The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. II: 1066-1474''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. * ''Syntactic Change and Causation: Developments in Infinitival Constructions in English''. University of Amsterdam dissertation, 1990.

As co-editor

* (with Muriel Norde and Harry Perridon), ''Up and Down the Cline – The Nature of Grammaticalization''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2004. * (with Max Nänny), ''The Motivated Sign''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2001. * (with Anette Rosenbach and Dieter Stein), ''Pathways of Change: Grammaticalization in English''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2000. * (with Max Nänny), ''Form Miming Meaning: Iconicity in Language and Literature''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1999.

References

External links

Official website

Iconicity research project

Book series ''Iconicity in Language and Literature''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Olga 1951 births People from Hilversum Living people Linguists from the Netherlands Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam University of Amsterdam alumni Alumni of Newcastle University Historical linguists Women linguists