This chapter examines the contributions of early American women to the study of language. For the most part, ‘American women’ designates immigrants to North America and their descendants, although there is some presence of native women. An initial historical sketch shows that women’s access to language-related intellectual life from the 1600s was more restricted, and limited in scope, compared to that of men. Although gendered expectations and constraints generally inhibited their participation in language scholarship, those same constraints sometimes positioned women to make unique contributions to the study of language. American women played roles in six domains bearing on language. They worked as lexicographers, set social standards for language, and wrote grammars. Women contributed to translation and cross-linguistic communication, and to educating deaf students. Finally, women were active in missionary linguistics, a field in which their accomplishments may have opened the way to public acceptance of women language scholars.
