Janet Holmes (linguist)

Janet Holmes (born 17 May 1947) is a New Zealand sociolinguist.

Her research interests include language and gender, language in the workplace, and New Zealand English.

After obtaining an MPhil at the University of Leeds, Holmes moved to Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, later becoming a naturalised New Zealander in 1975.

She published a textbook Introduction to Sociolinguistics in 1992 which has run to five editions.

In 1996, she established the Wellington Language in the Workplace (LWP) project, which is an ongoing study of communication formats occurring in the workplace, which examines “small talk, humour, management strategies, directives, and leadership in a wide range of New Zealand workplaces”.

Holmes has been featured on the media, such as the Radio New Zealand and newspapers.

Topics she talked about included the way people communicate at work, how complicated the phenomenon of sexist language is, the pitfalls and possibilities of cross-cultural communication in the workplace, or whether men or women talk more.

In recognition of Holmes' contributions to the field of Sociolinguistics, Linguist at Work: Festschrift for Janet Holmes brings together works by Holmes's colleagues, students, collaborators, and friends which present new ideas and analysis within the field.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and won the Dame Joan Metge Medal in 2012.

She is now an Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Holmes has published widely on an array of topics.

In the 2016 New Year Honours, Holmes was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to linguistics.

In 2017, Holmes was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.

In July 2019, Holmes was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Warwick.