37.2775, All: Obituary: Mary Pearce (1961-2026)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2775. Mon Aug 31 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2775, All: Obituary: Mary Pearce (1961-2026)

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Date: 31-Aug-2026
From: Nina Topintzi [topintzi at enl.auth.gr]
Subject: Obituary: Mary Pearce (1961-2026)


It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mary Pearce,
our friend and colleague, but also a distinguished linguist,
researcher, and specialist in orthography and phonology, who devoted
her career to studying, preserving, and documenting indigenous
languages, chief of which Kera, a Chadic language.
Mary earned her PhD in Linguistics from University College London
(UCL) in 2007 working on Kera phonology. Her seminal thesis, titled
The Interaction of Tone with Voicing and Foot Structure: Evidence from
Kera Phonetics and Phonology, drew on data she had collected through
extensive field research during her extended stay in Chad during
1992-2002 and two field trips in 2004 and 2006. It was later published
by Stanford University’s CSLI Publications, and remains to this day
groundbreaking work, combining rigorous theoretical analysis and
insightful empirical evidence. Her work was also published in the
journals Lingua and Phonology.
Although Mary soon became one of the leading authorities on Chadic
languages and an accomplished phonologist, it was through through her
various roles at SIL (as Associate International Linguistics
Coordinator, SIL Global Linguistics Coordinator, and Senior Consultant
with SIL International) that she truly flourished. Guided by her
faith, she traveled extensively to research and translate, supporting
communities in safeguarding their linguistic heritage and developing
essential writing systems.
Despite severe health challenges later in life, including cancer and
Parkinson’s disease, Mary refused to let her circumstances dim her joy
or her intellect. She continued to inspire everyone around her both in
Gloucester and worldwide by keeping a bright smile and channeling her
creativity into painting, most notably Aslan, her beloved lion from
C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series. She also did the
illustrations for the children’s book Jeremiah Duckling. Music too
remained a great pleasure.
She is survived by a close and supportive family, especially her
niece, Mary, and her great-niece Anna.
We both met Mary at UCL. One of us (Moira Yip) was her supervisor; the
other (Nina Topintzi) was her fellow PhD-student. Well beyond her
academic merits and success, we cherish Mary’s warmth, kindness,
common sense, determination, and courage. We also remember her for her
unwavering faith, one she always lived by but, so gracefully, never
attempted to impose on anyone else. Since August 28 Mary is no longer
with us, but her impact on the field of linguistics and the many lives
she touched across continents will endure for years to come.
Nina Topintzi, Professor of Phonology, Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki.
and
Moira Yip, Professor Emerita, University College London.

Linguistic Field(s): Language Documentation
                     Phonology
                     Writing Systems




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