Maria Teresa Cabré: "When building linguistic infrastructures, I have always been guided by practicality, common sense and systematicity"

The philologist and linguist Maria Teresa Cabré Castellví (born Argentera, Baix Camp, 1947), the president of the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC), was awarded a doctorate honoris causa by the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) in the University's Paranymph this morning. She received the highest academic distinction due to her extensive career in the field of linguistics, both at the university and at the head of other institutions, and for her outstanding contribution to the modernisation of the Catalan language, undertaking extremely valuable work in the fields of lexicography, terminology and neology.

Maria Teresa Cabré began her speech by thanking the University for the honour, which she received for her years of dedication to university, teaching and research work. She said that in the latter field, she has "found great satisfaction on the path to exploration and discovery." She said that during her career as a driving force behind various institutions for the study of lexicons and terminology, such as the TERMCAT terminology centre, "what has guided me in building language infrastructures has always been practicality, common sense and systematicity. Instead of literally adopting models from elsewhere, I have been driven by the idea of adapting to the needs that these organisations were created to meet."

The new doctor honoris causa discussed the values of responsibility, dedication and the sense of collective identity in her family, and which she reinforced in the academic and scientific field, working with the philologist Antoni M. Badia i Margarit, among others. When thanking UVic-UCC for the honour, Cabré expressed her commitment to "continue working hard at the service of knowledge, and accepting with the same enthusiasm, dedication and high standards, the responsibility conferred on me in the 2021-2022 academic year: the presidency of the Institute of Catalan Studies." The doctor emphasised that this institution "undertakes research aimed at understanding what we have collectively built throughout our history: Catalan identity in its broadest and most open sense, a welcoming and shared Catalan identity, but one that we would like to see more secure and empowered."

From the perspective of her professional experience, Cabré outlined some ideas, such as the possibility that high standards and passion can be an effective combination, that "visibility should not be sought but should rather be a consequence of what we do," that it is necessary to work with other people to make progress, and that "all research must of necessity be innovative." She left a final thought for the end, regarding the constant search for a personal perspective in the field of terminology, "in terms of a perspective that answers my questions, and not adopting a pre-established perspective for observation from the outset, which necessarily limits what you see."

Cabré was accompanied by around 200 people, including the University's Senate of Doctors and other members of the university community, representatives of various institutions, and the new doctor's friends and relatives. The ceremony was conducted by the rector of UVic-UCC, Josep Eladi Baños, and was attended by the president of the Balmes University Foundation and mayor of Vic, Albert Castells, and the secretary general of UVic-UCC, Anna Sabata.

A member of the University community from head to foot

The investiture of Maria Teresa Cabré as a new doctor honoris causa came about as the result of a proposal from the rector of the University himself, due to her outstanding contribution to the modernisation of the Catalan language, and her valuable work in the fields of lexicography, terminology and neology. Dr Assumpta Fargas, a philologist and a former rector of UVic-UCC, sponsored the new doctor, and highlighted the work she has done at the University: "Dr Cabré has been a member of the University community from head to foot, and has left her imprint in each of her three major roles: teaching, research and knowledge transfer." Fargas highlighted Cabré's very long career and contributions in the fields of regulations, semantics, lexicology, terminology, lexicography and neology.

Dr Loren Comajoan-Colomé, a professor in the Department of Philology and Didactics of Language and Literature in the Faculty of Education, Translation, Sports and Psychology at UVic-UCC, gave the laudatory speech for Dr Maria Teresa Cabré. Comajoan-Colomé reviewed the new doctor's long educational and professional career, and stressed that the word that was common to all her positions and roles was "apply": "Dr Cabré is the person who introduced the discipline of applied linguistics to the field of the Catalan language, and who developed the discipline even further from both an epistemological, theoretical and obviously applied point of view," he said. Comajoan-Colomé said that Cabré's relationship with UVic-UCC has also continued in the field of applied linguistics since the 1980s, and he mentioned the Primer diccionari [First dictionary] (1988) as the first example of this long collaboration.

During the laudatory speech, Comajoan-Colomé referred among other achievements to the task that was entrusted to Cabré in 1984. This was the creation of the TERMCAT Terminology Centre and the establishment of the Neology Observatory, as the formation of new words was another major area studied by the new doctor honoris causa. "Her work has combined research with the creation of applied tools and resources, which has enabled Catalan to be adapted to contemporary communicative needs," said Comajoan-Colomé. He concluded the laudatory speech by thanking Cabré "for giving us so many tools and for teaching us that languages are not static objects, but instead living systems that evolve with their speakers and the contexts in which they are used."

The medal and the initium

The rector of UVic-UCC, Josep Eladi Baños, spoke on behalf of the University, and addressing Cabré as a new doctor honoris causa, said that "it is a source of pride for us to be the first university in the Catalan-speaking countries to include you as a member of its faculty with this status." He also paid tribute to "Dr Cabré's constant work towards improving our language, in all its aspects, aimed at normalising the daily and professional use of the language, and focusing on scientific aspects." As the highest academic authority, Baños awarded Cabré the medal that distinguishes her as a doctor honoris causa, which was created by the sculptor Emili Armengol. She was also presented with an original work by the artist Albert Coma Bau: the "T" symbol, the new doctor's decorated initium.

Albert Castells congratulated the new doctor, and recalled that Catalan is part of the identity and the language of instruction of UVic-UCC - a university "that is committed to the defence and promotion of the Catalan language, in teaching and research, as well as based on raising cultural awareness." In his capacity as mayor, Castells also mentioned the responsibility to ensure that the city of Vic can be experienced fully in Catalan, and called for the Catalan language to be used for social and general purposes in all areas. 

The general secretary of UVic-UCC Anna Sabata began the ceremony by reading the agreements of the Governing Council of UVic-UCC and the Board of Trustees of the Balmes University Foundation regarding conferring a doctorate honoris causa on Maria Teresa Cabré. 

A choir performed several pieces of music during the ceremony, and the event concluded with the singing of the university anthem Gaudeamus igitur.

The programme of the ceremony in which Maria Teresa Cabré was awarded the doctorate honoris causa can be seen here. The video of the event can also be viewed on the UVic-UCC YouTube channel.