Mulleres na Lexicografía

Kay (Ruth) Williamson

English, Igbo, Ịjọ (Benin-Congo language family)

1935 (United Kingdom) - 2005 (Brazil)

Linguist, Lexicographer, Lecturer. She had her PhD in linguistics which focused on the Ịjọ language from Yale University. After getting her PhD, in 1963, she began working as a lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. In 1972, she became a Professor. She went to the University of Port Harcourt in 1977 and continued her career in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages. In 1984 she was a visiting scholar at the University of Leiden. She was the Dean of Graduate school at the University of Port Harcourt from 1990 to 1991. She was also a visiting Professor to Wolfson college, Oxford in 1991. After her retirement, she was a contracted Professor to the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies at the University of Port Harcourt (from 2000 to 2002). In 2002, she was appointed the UNESCO Professor of Cultural Heritage which she held until her death.

She worked on the Nigerian languages and promoted the learning and teaching of minority languages. Some of her works include: Williamson, Kay. 1965 (2nd ed. 1969). A grammar of the Kolokuma dialect of Ịjọ. (West African Language Monographs, 2.) London: Cambridge University Press 2011. Williamson, Kay, and Kiyoshi Shimizu (edd.). 1968. Benue-Congo comparative wordlist: Volume I. Ibadan: West African Linguistic Society. Williamson, Kay (ed.) 1972. Igbo-English dictionary. Benin: Ethiope Publishing Corporation. Williamson, Kay (ed.). 1973. Benue-Congo comparative wordlist: Volume II. Ibadan: West African Linguistic Society. Williamson, Kay (ed.) 1983. Orthographies of Nigerian languages: Manual II. Lagos: National Language Centre, Federal Ministry of Education. Williamson, Kay, and A. O. Timitimi (edd.). 1983. Short Ịzọn-English dictionary. (Delta Series No. 3.) Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press.

Igbo Dictionary: https://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/igbo/IGBO%20Dictionary.pdf

UNESCO professor of cultural heritage, nature enthusiast.

Blench, R. (2005). Kay Williamson, 1935–2005 . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 26(1), 79-80. https://doi.org/10.1515/jall.2005.26.1.79 Ndimele, O., & Horton, R. (2010). Kay Ruth M. Williamson (1935–2005). Africa, 80(1), 168-176.https://doi.org/10.3366/E000197200900134X Bamgbose, A. (2005). Kay Williamson, The Guardian,01/02/ 2005. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/mar/01/guardianobituaries1 Photo: https://rogerblench.info/KWEF/KWBio/Kay%20Williamson%20life%20RMB_files/image048.jpg

Deborah Nebechukwu

María José Domínguez Vázquez