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Jane Stuart-Smith

Professor of English Language and Linguistics

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ56099881
Source-derived summary

Jane Helen Stuart-Smith is a linguist and professor of sociolinguistics and phonetics at the University of Glasgow. She is recognised as a specialist in the dialects of Glasgow.

In 1998 she established the Glasgow University Laboratory of Phonetics (GULP), which she is still co-directing.

Biography

Stuart-Smith studied at University College London (UCL) and Oxford University, where she graduated with an M.Phil in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology in 1991. Following this, she studied for a PhD in Historical Phonology at Oxford University, completing her dissertation in 1996. She became professor of phonetics and sociolinguistics at the University of Glasgow in 2013.

Research

Stuart-Smith's research focusses on the interface of speech and society. She published articles on the variation and phonetics of a number of languages and accents, including the Glaswegian accent and British varieties of Panjabi. Additionally, she is interested in media influence on language change, on which she taught a course at the 2015 Linguistic Summer Institute, hosted by the University of Chicago. To advance mainstream education on speech and accents, Stuart-Smith also co-developed the website Seeing Speech.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Jane Stuart-Smith” as professor of English Language and Linguistics. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jane, Stuart-Smith and Professor.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1998, 1991, 1996, 2013—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1965. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Jane, Stuart-Smith and Professor providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Jane Stuart-Smith”, the useful work is to connect “professor of English Language and Linguistics” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q56099881. VIAF identifies the subject as 118963238. The Library of Congress control number is no2003075207. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1998, 1991, 1996 and 2013.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Jane Stuart-Smith” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.