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.
Her main areas of research are language change (focus on changing vocabulary and grammar), the notion of linguistic taboo, the structure and history of English. 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).
Kate is a regular presenter of language segments on ABC radio and 3AW, and has appeared as a weekly panelist on ABC TV’s Can We Help (2007-11). She has given a TED Talk on euphemism and taboo.
Research area keywords
- Germanic languages, language change, history of English, taboo and euphemism, prescription, popular perceptions about language
Network
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De-tabooing depression and anxiety: Mental health communication in old age
Burridge, K., Benczes, R., Allan, K. & Lindgren, M.
1/02/22 → 31/01/25
Project: Research
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Metaphors and identities in the Australian vernacular
Burridge, K., Manns, H., Allan, K. & Musgrave, S.
1/02/21 → 1/02/24
Project: Research
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Language attitudes and their impact in criminal justice proceedings
Burridge, K., Eades, D., Heydon, G. & Severin, A.
29/03/18 → 29/03/19
Project: Research
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The Cultural Model of Ageing in Australian English
Burridge, K., Allan, K. & Sharifian Jazi, F.
Australian Research Council (ARC), Monash University
2/01/14 → 12/10/18
Project: Research
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English in Australia
Burridge, K., 2021, The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes . Andy, K. (ed.). 2nd Edition ed. Abingdon Oxon UK: Routledge, p. 130-148 10 p. (Routledge Handbooks in Applied Linguistics).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Seniors, Older People, the Elderly, Oldies, and Old People: What Language Reveals about Stereotypes of Ageing in Australia
Allan, K., Benczes, R. A. & Burridge, K., 2021, Philosophical Pragmatics. : Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology. Macagno, F. & Capone, A. (eds.). 1st ed. Cham Switzerland: Springer, Vol. 28. p. 111-125 15 p. (Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy and Psychology; vol. 28).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Do people swear because they don't know enough words
Burridge, K., 2020, Questions About Language: What Everyone Should Know About Language in the 21st Century. Bauer, L. & Calude, A. (eds.). Abingdon Oxon UK: Routledge, p. 47-64 18 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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English in Australia: Extra-territorial Influences
Burridge, K. & Peters, P., 2020, Modelling World Englishes: A Joint Approach to Postcolonial and Non-Postcolonial Englishes . Buschfeld, S. & Kautzsch, A. (eds.). Edinburgh UK: Edinburgh University Press, p. 202-227 26 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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History of Australian English
Burridge, K., 2020, Australian English Reimagined: Structure, Features and Developments. Willoughby, L. & Manns, H. (eds.). 1st ed. Abingdon Oxon UK: Routledge, p. 175-209 18 p. (Australian English Reimagined).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review