While women have made considerable contributions to linguistics before it became an independent academic discipline, these early achievements have often fallen into oblivion. Their work has been lost or become untraceable and their authorship has been challenged. They have not been given recognition when collaborating with male scholars, or had to publish anonymously due to gender bias. While, at times, their contributions were left unpublished, the passing of time in other instances erased the memory of what they did publish. Moreover, in case the memory of these women has stood the test of time, it is often their academic, and particularly linguistic, achievements that do not live on. Meanwhile, those female linguistic contributions that have not fully slipped into obscurity should be regarded separately from a more general history of linguistics, so as not to measure their significance against male achievements. Additionally, the historical field of female linguistics should be demarcated with careful consideration of the intricate historical context in which women's linguistic achievements are couched, such as limited education opportunities or restriction to the private sphere. Consequently, it should include contributions outside of formal, institutionalised, and public structures, such as language teaching, translating, and even supporting male colleagues, alongside more traditional input, such as the publication of dictionaries and grammars, or engagement in language debates. Nonetheless, because the linguistic field has overall become more accepting towards women, female achievements have also increasingly aligned with the traditional idea of linguistics over time.
Aspasia (ca. 470 – 401 BCE)
Aspasia was an Athenian woman who started out as a hetaira, but later married Pericles, Athen's political leader at the time. Though she lived in Athens, being foreign-born granted her more freedom than other women, which allowed her to distinguish herself in Sophist circles as a great rhetorician and to engage her rhetorical skills in political life. These actions not only held considerable linguistic significance but even gained her the titles of 'poetess' and 'mistress of eloquence'. Moreover, Aspasia was also associated with Plato's Academy and one of the only two women described as a philosopher in his dialogues. Plato himself considered her a poster child of the deceitful use of Sophistic rhetoric, which he was exceptionally critical of. Furthermore, his Menexus mentions that she wrote a funeral speech delivered by Pericles, and cites her as Socrates', as well as many other Athenians', teacher in rhetoric, which also ranks among her linguistic achievements. Nevertheless, the idea that she instructed Socrates in rhetoric cannot count on much support anymore in the 21st century. Conversely, Plutarch's account, which mentions that Socrates sporadically visited her with his pupils and that even his close friends allowed their wives to listen to her, is considered more plausible.
Hypatia (ca. 355 – ca. 415 CE)
Hypatia of Alexandria, like other philosophers in the early centuries of the Empire, played an active role in the public life of Alexandria and became a prominent celebrity as a result. She succeeded her father as leader of the Academy, the most renowned philosophical school at that time. Given her position, she must have been well-versed in foundational ancient philosophical texts on linguistics and logic, like those by Aristotle or Plato, and their corresponding commentaries. Among the readings of the Neoplatonist curriculum, for instance, was Plato's Cratylus, a testimony to the importance held by linguistic topics in the philosophic framework of late antiquity. Additionally, Hypatia was also a private and public teacher of geometry, mathematics, and philosophy. According to Socrates of Constantinople she taught all who wanted to hear, not just exclusive groups of initiates. He also mentions how her knowledge awarded her with a certain freedom of speech and with the liberty to treat men as her equals.
Ban Zhao (44-116 CE) Ban Zhao was the daughter of Ban Biao and sister of Ban Gu, both historians during the Han dynasty. Whereas women did not have substantial influence over Chinese philology during this period, Ban Zhao is an exception. After her brother's execution, she secured her place in the male bastion of scholastic transmission by completing her father and brother's composition of the Book of Han by order of Emperor He. She also allegedly annotated a critical edition (now lost) of Liu Xiang's Biographies of Eminent Women. The linguistic character of this work lies in the fact that it contributes to the field of glossography, a prominent aspect of Chinese philology. Moreover, she wrote what is considered to be the earliest female metarhetorical work, entitled Admonitions for Women/Lessons for Women. Because its preface reveals the intended audience to be the young women in Ban Zhao's family, this text is also regarded as the earliest work exclusively designed to meet the needs of Chinese women's education. It served as inspiration for later female textbooks and was integrated in the Four Books for Women as well. In terms of its content, while the text intends to instruct women in respectable female behaviour and wifely submission, it also includes the earliest known argument for female literacy. In this way, Ban Zhao could successfully plead in favour of women's literacy without offending her male, more conservative readership. Besides her publications, Ban Zhao also presided over the schooling of Empress Deng and her court ladies during the reign of Emperor He, and afterwards during Empress Dowager Deng's own reign.
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