Abstract
WE regret to record the death of Miss Lilias Armstrong (Mrs. S. Boyanus), which took place unexpectedly in London on December 9. Miss Armstrong was one of the foremost exponents of the science of phonetics, and was well known for her studies of the phonetic systems of the African languages. Lilias Armstrong, the daughter of the Rev. J. W. Armstrong, was a graduate of the University of Leeds. She joined the staff of the Department of Phonetics of University College, London, in 1918. Her abilities as research worker, teacher and organizer won her a world-wide reputation, which was recognized when at the close of the academic year 1936–37 the University of London conferred on her the title of reader. Miss Armstrong was the author of a large number of books dealing with the phonetics of English, French, Burmese, Somali and Kikuyu. It is especially in connexion with the two last named that Miss Armstrong's contributions to the study of languages were of especial note. Her phonetic studies put the grammar of these two languages on a new basis, her most remarkable discovery being the function in them of voice pitch, by which in both, she discovered, grammar and meaning are determined.
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Obituaries. Nature 141, 17 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/141017b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/141017b0