| Jennifer Hay | |
| Fields: | phonetics, sociolinguistics, laboratory phonology, New Zealand English |
| Workplaces: | University of Canterbury |
| Alma Mater: | Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences |
| Awards: | Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, James Cook Research Fellowship |
Jennifer Bohun Hay is a New Zealand linguist who specialises in sociolinguistics, laboratory phonology, and the history of New Zealand English. As of 2020 she is a full professor at the University of Canterbury.[1]
In 2000, Hay gained a PhD titled Causes and Consequences of Word Structure at Northwestern University in Illinois in the Linguistics department. She moved to the University of Canterbury, and was appointed a full professor in 2010.
Hay's research has revealed that a New Zealand dialect took only a single generation to emerge. She has explored how speech perception and production is influenced by past experiences and current context, including environmental factors: for example, New Zealanders hear vowels differently if they are in a room with toy kangaroos and koalas as opposed to toy kiwi.[2]
Hay is the director of the New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour, a multi-disciplinary research centre based at the University of Canterbury.[3] In 2015 she was awarded a James Cook Research Fellowship to research on how personal experience shapes the New Zealand accent and word use.[4]
In 2017, Hay was featured in the Royal Society Te Apārangi's 150 women in 150 words project, celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.[5]
Hay received a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in 2011,[6] a James Cook Research Fellowship and a University of Canterbury Research Award in 2015,[7] [2] and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2015.[8]