Professor Sara Pons-Sanz
(she/her)

Professor

: Available for postgraduate supervision

School of English, Communication and Philosophy

I am a member of the Centre for Language and Communication Research.

My research focuses on the make-up of medieval English vocabulary from different perspectives (etymology, sociolinguistics and stylistics).

After completing two BAs (BA in English Philology and BA in Spanish Philology) and the equivalent of an MA in English Philology at the University of Valencia (Spain), I pursued an MPhil and a PhD at the University of Cambridge, in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. I was then granted a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, which I took at the University of Nottingham (School of English).

Having spent six years in Nottingham (2004-2010), first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as a lecturer, I joined the Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster, where I taught over five years (2010-2016). I have been at Cardiff University since January 2016.

Date
Type

2024

Pons-Sanz, S. 2024. Norse-derived terms in the Ormulum: A reappraisal. Early Middle English 6(1-2)
Krykoniuk, K. and Pons-Sanz, S. M. 2024. Trends in the development of vocabulary for EMOTION and COGNITION in English: A millennial perspective. Lexis – Journal in English Lexicology HS(3) (10.4000/12iz9)

2023

Cole, M. and Pons-Sanz, S. M. 2023. Origin and spread of the personal pronoun 'they': La Estorie del Evangelie, a case study. In: Pons-Sanz, S. M. and Sylvester, L. eds. Medieval English in a Multilingual Context: Current Methodologies and Approaches. New Approaches to English Historical Linguistics Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 311-342., (10.1007/978-3-031-30947-2_11)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2023. Speech representation in Robert Mannyng’s Handlyng Synne as a pedagogical tool. Viator 53(1)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2023. Legal glossaries (Old and Middle English). In: Seiler, A., Benati, C. and Pons-Sanz, S. M. eds. Medieval Glossaries from North-Western Europe: Tradition and Innovation. The Medieval Translator Brepols, pp. 272-281.

2018

Pons-Sanz, S. M. and MacCoinnich, A. 2018. The languages of Scotland. In: Royan, N. ed. The International Companion to Scottish Literature, 1400-1650. Glasgow: Scottish Literature International, pp. 19-37.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2018. Legal vocabulary in Early English translations of the Bible: a study of Johannine Terms. In: Teresi, L. and di Sciacca, C. eds. Studies on Late Antique and Medieval Germanic Glossography and Lexicography in Honour of Patrizia Lendinara. ETS Publications

2017

Pons-Sanz, S. M. 2017. Reassessing the semantic history of OE brēad / ME brēd. English Language and Linguistics 21(1), pp. 47-67. (10.1017/S1360674316000058)

2016

Pons-Sanz, S. M. 2016. A study of Aldred's multiple glosses to the Lindisfarne Gospels. In: Pons-Sanz, S. M. and Fernandez Cuesta, J. eds. The Old English Gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels: Author, Language and Context. Buchreihe der Anglia / Anglia Book Series Vol. 51. Berlin and Boston, MA: De Gruyter, pp. 301-328.
Fernandez Cuesta, J. and Pons-Sanz, S. M. eds. 2016. The Old English gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels: Language, author and context. Buchreihe der Anglia / Anglia Book Series Vol. 51. Berlin and Boston, MA: De Gruyter.

2015

Pons-Sanz, S. 2015. Old English style. In: Sotirova, V. ed. The Bloomsbury Companion to Stylistics. Bloomsbury Companions London: Bloomsbury, pp. 569-582., (10.5040/9781472593603.0040)
Pons-Sanz, S. M. 2015. Norse-derived terms in Orm's lexico-semantic field of EMOTION. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 114(4), pp. 552-586. (10.5406/jenglgermphil.114.4.0552)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2015. Identifying and dating Norse-derived terms in Medieval English: approaches and methods. In: Askedal, J. O. and Nielsen, H. F. eds. Early Germanic Languages in Contact. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 203-221.

2014

Pons-Sanz, S. 2014. The language of Early English Lterature: from Cædmon to Milton. Perspectives on the English Language. Palgrave Macmillan.

2013

Pons-Sanz, S. 2013. The lexical effects of Anglo-Scandinavian linguistic contact on Old English. Studies in the early Middle Ages. Turnhout: Brepols.

2011

Pons-Sanz, S. 2011. The etymology of the word-field of Old English hōre and the lexico-cultural climate of eleventh-century England. Nottingham Medieval Studies 55, pp. 23-48. (10.1484/J.NMS.1.102418)

2010

Pons-Sanz, S. 2010. Norse-derived vocabulary in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In: Jorgensen, A. ed. Reading the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Language, Literature, History. Brepols, pp. 275-304.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2010. Arabic sources of Scandinavian history. In: Bjork, R. E. ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Sanchez, J. and Pons Sanz, S. M. 2010. Manual d`Anglès Medieval Tardà. Collecció Joan Fuster Materials Docents en Valenciá Vol. 109. Alacant: Universitat d'Alacant.

2008

Pons-Sanz, S. 2008. Norse-derived terms and structures in The Battle of Maldon. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 107(4), pp. 421-444.

2007

Pons-Sanz, S. 2007. Aldredian Glosses to Proper Names in the Lindisfarne Gospels. Anglia: Journal of English Philology 119(2), pp. 173-192. (10.1515/ANGL.2001.173)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2007. Norse-derived vocabulary in late Old English texts: Wulfstan's works, a case study. North-Western European language evolution. Supplement. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2007. Two compounds in the Old English and Old Norse versions of the Prose Phoenix. Arkiv för nordisk filologi 122, pp. 137-156.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2007. A paw in every pie: Wulfstan and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle again. Leeds Studies in English 38, pp. 31-52.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2007. An etymological note on two Old English medical terms: ridesoht and flacg. Studia Neophilologica 79(1), pp. 45-53. (10.1080/00393270701299962)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2007. A reconsideration of Wulfstan's use of Norse-derived terms: the case of Þræl. English Studies 88(1), pp. 1-21. (10.1080/00138380601042659)

2006

Pons-Sanz, S. 2006. OE māl as a gloss for L clasma in Aldhelmian Glossaries. Notes and Queries 53(4), pp. 395-398. (10.1093/notesj/gjl132)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2006. Anglo-Scandinavian trade or paganism? OE hæðen in the First Cleopatra Glossary. Modern Language Review 101(3), pp. 625-637. (10.2307/20466898)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2006. Sharpening, confiding and OE getryccað. Notes and Queries 53(2), pp. 146-150. (10.1093/notesj/gjl005)
Pons-Sanz, S. 2006. OE Fēs(I)an/MeFēsen revisited. Neophilologus 90(1), pp. 119-134. (10.1007/s11061-004-5362-8)

2005

Pons-Sanz, S. 2005. The Norse origin of OE afol / ME afell: is evidence strong enough?. English Language Notes 43(2), pp. 1-8.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2005. Friends and relatives in need of an explanation: Gr. anagkaîos, L necessarius and PGmc *nauð-. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 104(1), pp. 1-11.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2005. An etymological note on OE of lı¯fe forrædan. ANQ: a Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews 18(2), pp. 7-9. (10.3200/ANQQ.18.2.7-9)

2004

Pons-Sanz, S. 2004. Whom did al-Ghazāl meet? An exchange of embassies between the Arabs from al-Andalus and the Vikings. Saga-Book of the Viking Society for Northern Research 28, pp. 5-28.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2004. A sociolinguistic approach to the Norse-derived words in the glosses to the Lindisfarne and Rushworth Gospels. In: Kay, C., Hough, C. and Wotherspoon, I. eds. New Perspectives on English Historical Linguistics: Selected Papers from 12 ICEHL, Glasgow, 21-26 August 2002., Vol. 2. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory Vol. 252. John Benjamins, pp. 177-192.
Pons-Sanz, S. 2004. For Gode and for worolde: Wulfstan's differentiation of the divine and worldly realms through word-formation processes. English Studies 85(4), pp. 281-296. (10.1080/00138380412331339108)

2001

Pons-Sanz, S. 2001. The Basque country and the Vikings during the ninth century. Journal of the Society of Basque Studies of America 21, pp. 48-58.

2000

Pons-Sanz, S. 2000. Analysis of the Scandinavian loanwords in the Aldredian glosses to the Lindisfarne Gospel. Universidad De Valencia. Servicio De Publicaciones.

I am a historical linguist and work mainly on the medieval period. I am particularly interested in Anglo-Scandinavian linguistic contact and its effects on Old and Middle English. I am currently involved in a collaborative project on this theme:

‘The Lindisfarne Gloss in its Dialectal Context: A Comparison between Lindisfarne and the Gloss to the Durham Collectar’ (funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) focuses on two texts attributed to the tenth-century glossator Aldred. These texts are written in Old Northumbrian, a dialectal variety of Old English that exhibits some lexical and morphological features characteristic of early Middle English texts. These features are, to some extent, attributable to Scandinavian influence.

I have recently co-led two other projects on this subject:

'Medieval English (ca600-1500) in a Multilingual Context' Network (funded by the AHRC; 2018-20) aimed to bring together scholars working on a wide range of topics (linguistic, literary, sociocultural) that throw light on the impact that multilingualism had on medieval English: its lexical and morphosyntactic development, and its textual manifestations.
Follow-on-Funding from the AHRC to develop the impact activities of The Gersum Project: Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary (also funded by the AHRC; 2019-20). The Gersum Project, in its two phases, aimed to present a detailed and rigorous survey of Norse-derived words in six English texts from the late period. Its outputs are presented in a publicly available website which includes, amongst other resources, a database where users can explore the terms’ etymology, meaning, textual attestations and dialectal distribution; and a series of educational resources aimed at primary and secondary school children.

I am also interested in English historical stylistics, the topic of one of my books: The Language of Early English Literature: From Cædmon to Milton (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Postgraduate students

I am interested in supervising doctoral projects on a topic broadly related to my areas of research: English historical linguistics (including historical dialectology, sociolinguistics and stylistics), medieval English studies, and Germanic linguistics. Please visit the Supervision tab for further information about my current and past students.

I teach various modules on topics associated with language variation and change, such as historical linguistics, sociolinguistics and stylistics.

Professional memberships

Co-editor of the series New Approaches to English Historical Linguistics (Palgrave Macmillan)
Member of the Advisory Editorial Board of NOWELE (North-Western European Language Evolution; John Benjamins)
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Affiliate of the Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics
Member of the International Association of University Professors of English
Member of the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England
Member of the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature
Member of SELIM (Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature)

I am interested in supervising doctoral projects on a topic broadly related to my areas of research:

English historical linguistics (including historical dialectology, sociolinguistics and stylistics);
(Historical) language contact;
Medieval English studies;
Germanic linguistics.

Current supervision

Ellen Bristow

Teacher

Contact Details

Pons-SanzS@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 76128
John Percival Building, Room 3.33, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU

Greatest Viking treasure celebrated

13 September 2021

Leading the way in Medieval studies

10 July 2019

External profiles

ORCID