In memory of Dr Vivien Law (1954-2002), and thanks to her generosity, a prize has been established by the Henry Sweet Society for the best essay submitted on any topic within the history of linguistics.

The competition is open to all currently registered students, and to scholars who have received their PhD or equivalent qualification within the last five years. Members of the Executive Committee of the Society may not apply. Applications from non-members are welcome.

The prize consists of £100 and publication of the winning essay in the Henry Sweet Society Bulletin. Others of the essays submitted may also be published where appropriate. The prize will not be awarded if none of the submitted essays is deemed to be worthy of publication. The prize-winner is also entitled to one year's free membership of the Society and will receive a free copy of Vivien Law's The History of Linguistics in Europe from Cambridge University Press.

The prize will be awarded by the Executive Committee on the recommendation of a Prize Committee drawn from its members. The committee will be looking for an exciting and original approach to the history of linguistics, either in the choice of topic or in the way it is treated, and for the highest standards of research and presentation. The essay should not have been previously published.

The closing date for submissions is 30 September. Entries may be written in English, French, or German, and should follow the style-sheet for the Henry Sweet Society Bulletin. They should not exceed 8000 words, including references, footnotes, tables, appendices, etc. Four hard copies of the essay, and one in electronic form, should be sent to the Chairman of the Executive Committee (Professor Andrew Linn, School of English Literature, Language, and Linguistics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN) by the closing date. The Committee's decision will be final. The winning entry will be announced in the May edition of the Bulletin, but all entrants will receive notification of the outcome by the end of December.

Vivien Law studied Classics and German at McGill University, Montreal, before pursuing PhD studies at Cambridge. She was successively a Fellow at Jesus, Sidney Sussex, and Trinity Colleges in Cambridge, and held the only lectureship in the world dedicated to the history of linguistic thought (in the Cambridge Department of Linguistics). In the late 1990s she was made Reader in the History of Linguistic Thought and a Fellow of the British Academy. Her academic interests were wide-ranging, but she was associated above all with her work on medieval grammars.