Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Kate Burridge is Professor of Linguistics at Monash University and Fellow of both the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. She completed her undergraduate training in Linguistics and German at the University of Western Australia. This was followed by three years postgraduate study at the University of London. Kate completed her PhD in 1983 on syntactic change in medieval Dutch. She also taught at the Polytechnic of Central London before joining the Department of Linguistics at la Trobe University in 1984. In 2003 she took up the Chair of Linguistics in the Linguistics Program in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University.
Kate’s main areas of research are language change (focus on changing vocabulary and grammar), taboo and euphemism, public opinion about language and value (and its fall-out); change in Germanic languages (current focus on the structure and history of English); health communication (particularly around ageing). She has authored / edited more than 20 books on different aspects of language. Her most recent books are: Forbidden Words: Taboo and the censoring of language (with Keith Allan, 2006); Gift of the Gob: Morsels of English language history (2010); Wrestling with Words and Meanings (with Réka Benczes, 2014); Understanding Language Change (with Alex Bergs 2018); Introducing English Grammar (with Kersti Börjars, 2019); For the Love of Language (with Tonya Stebbins 2019); Exploring the Ecology of World Englishes in the Twenty-First Century: Language, Society and Culture (with Pam Peters, 2021).
Kate is a regular presenter of language segments on ABC radio and 3AW, and has appeared as a weekly panellist on ABC TV’s Can We Help (2007-11). She has given a TEDx Talk on euphemism and taboo.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Germanic languages, language change, history of English, taboo and euphemism, prescription, popular perceptions about language
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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De-tabooing depression and anxiety: Mental health communication in old age
Burridge, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Benczes, R. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Allan, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Lindgren, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/02/22 → 1/07/26
Project: Research
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Metaphors and identities in the Australian vernacular
Burridge, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Manns, H. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Allan, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Musgrave, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/03/21 → 1/12/25
Project: Research
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Language attitudes and their impact in criminal justice proceedings
Burridge, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Eades, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Heydon, G. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Severin, A. (Chief Investigator (CI))
29/03/18 → 29/03/19
Project: Research
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The Cultural Model of Ageing in Australian English
Burridge, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Allan, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Sharifian Jazi, F. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Australian Research Council (ARC), Monash University
2/01/14 → 12/10/18
Project: Research
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Language Consultancy for ABC - TV's 'Can We Help' (Series 6)
Burridge, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
1/01/11 → 31/07/11
Project: Research
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"Don't worry, be a senior?" The metaphorical labelling of late-life depression in Australian news media
Szabó, L. P., Benczes, R., Burridge, K., Allan, K. & Lindgren, M., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Text & Talk. 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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AAFS (Victorian branch) Symposium: Science and medicine in the courts - learning from the wrongful conviction of Kathleen Folbigg
Cunliffe, E., Vinuesa, C. G., Rego, R., San Roque, M., Edmond, G., Gans, J., Sato, M., Burridge, K. & Cordner, S., 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences. 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Other › peer-review
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Irish influence on Australian English
Musgrave, S. & Burridge, K., 2024, The Oxford Handbook of Irish English. Hickey, R. (ed.). 1st ed. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, p. 541-560 20 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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What is Australian slang? Is it really slang?
Manns, H., Musgrave, S., Burridge, K., Burke, I., Hughes, D. S. & Allan, K., 2024, In: Australian Journal of Linguistics. 44, 4, p. 283-303 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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“Survival of the fittest” – the evolution of slanguage
Burridge, K., 2024, In: Australian Journal of Linguistics. 44, 4, p. 340-364 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Activities
- 1 Editorial responsibility
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Lexis: Journal in English Lexicology (Journal)
Allan, K. (Associate editor), Burridge, K. (Associate editor), Crespo-Fernandez, E. (Associate editor) & Jamet, D. (Associate editor)
2012Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility