37.489, All: Obituary for Charlotte Gooskens (1962-2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-489. Wed Feb 04 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.489, All: Obituary for Charlotte Gooskens (1962-2026)

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Date: 04-Feb-2026
From: Anja Schüppert [a.schueppert at rug.nl]
Subject: Obituary for Charlotte Gooskens (1962-2026)


[English below]
Det er med tungt hjerte at vi deler at bautaen i forskning på
språkforståelse, Charlotte Gooskens, gikk bort i helgen. Stille vann
har dypest grunn sies det og Charlotte var aldri den som ropte høyest,
men alltid den som kom med flest tilbakemeldinger.
Vi som har haft lyckan att ha Charlotte som nära kollega har fått
ovärderlig hjälp med allt vi har skrivit och allt vi har byggt. Med
sin passion för forskning och sin outtömliga expertis inom fonetik,
sociolingvistik, experimentell forskning och framför allt
grannspråksförståelse har hon kunnat säkra finansiering för många unga
forskare och hjälpt oss att bygga en karriär inom akademin.
Det som kanske kännetecknade Charlotte mest var hennes stora hjärta
och hennes förstående attityd. Hon var vår kompass, vår fyr, också när
det gällde samarbetet mellan kollegor. Kanske utan att själv vara
medveten om det satte hon ett exempel för hur man kan röra sig inom
den akademiska världen med lojalitet mot sina principer och utan att
förlora sin integritet. Vi kunde alltid lita på henne.
Hun var oppbyggende og inderlig snill, og klarte egenhendig å sette
forskning på mellomnordisk språkforståelse tilbake på kartet i moderne
lingvistikk. Vi er evig takknemlig for alle mulighetene hun ga oss, og
kommer til å huske henne med kjærlighet.
Våra tankar är med Mark, Ida, Jeppe och Marijn, og deres familie i
Danmark.
Nanna Haug Hilton & Anja Schüppert
* * *
It is with a heavy heart that we share that the stalwart in receptive
multilingualism, Charlotte Gooskens, passed away last weekend. Still
waters run deep, as they say, and Charlotte was never the one who
shouted the loudest, but always the one who gave the most feedback.
Those of us who have been lucky enough to have Charlotte as a close
colleague have received invaluable help with everything we wrote and
helping hands for everything we built. With her passion for research
and her inexhaustible expertise in phonetics, sociolinguistics,
experimental research and, above all, receptive multilingualism, she
has been able to secure funding for many young researchers and has
thus supported us in building careers in academia.
What perhaps characterized Charlotte most was her big heart and her
understanding attitude. She was our compass, our beacon, also when it
came to collaboration between colleagues. Perhaps without being aware
of it herself, she set an example for how one can move within academia
with loyalty to our principles and without ever losing our integrity.
We could always trust her.
She was uplifting and sincerely kind, and single-handedly managed to
put research on receptive multilingualism in Scandinavia back on the
map in modern linguistics. We are eternally grateful for all the
opportunities she gave us, and will remember her with love.
Our thoughts are with Mark, Ida, Jeppe and Marijn, and with their
family in Denmark.
Nanna Haug Hilton & Anja Schüppert

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics




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