Scroll to the bottom for photos from the event and downloads of presentations.
According to National Geographic's Enduring Voices, a language dies every 14 days, with an estimated loss of half the world's 7000 languages by the year 2100. The Department of Linguistics & TESOL at UT Arlington has partnered with other campus organizations to highlight the plight of languages in danger of extinction. Join us for an exploration of verbal arts, writing systems, and grammatical complexity from our own backyard (Oklahoma) to the far reaches of the Pacific.
Do something now! Take a few minutes to send a letter or an email to President Obama urging him to sign the executive order on Native American Language Revitalization. More details here (Linguistic Society of America).
Win a t-shirt: The department will be holding two drawings for garfish t-shirts, designed by artist Joshua Hinson of the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program. The drawings will be held in connection with a fundraiser for the American Indian Language Development Institute.
Check out our event Facebook page and Like us to help spread the word!
Schedule
Oct 31 (Monday)
noon: Professor Emeritus Jerold A. Edmondson "Taiwan's endangered aboriginal languages" (Chemistry & Physics Bldg. 303)
- Professor Emeritus Jerold A. Edmondson joined the faculty of UT Arlington in 1981 and retired in Spring 2011 as a Distinguished Research Professor. Professor Emeritus Edmondson has an impressive set of accomplishments, having published more than 120 journal articles, book chapters, and proceedings articles, including two textbooks and seven edited books. His research interests and publications span at least four subdisciplines, often interweaving topics between subdisciplines: historical and comparative linguistics, Asian linguistics, field linguistics, and phonetics. His research has garnered support from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Upon the occasion of his retirement, he established The Jerold A. Edmondson Research Endowment in Linguistics to fund student research grants in linguistics, with an emphasis for funding projects with field work, especially on endangered languages. For more on this endowment, go to our Donors page.
Nov 1 (Tuesday) :: a Native American Heritage Month event ::
noon: Verbal Arts in Native American Languages: Sponsored by the Honors College (Trimble Hall 200)
- Introduction by Dr. Colleen Fitzgerald
- Mrs. Sandra Karty (Comanche Elder and Storyteller): Traditional Stories
- Rozella Boyter (Choctaw elder): Blessing
- Choctaw singers
5 pm: Dr. Mary Linn (U Oklahoma), "State of the State: Oklahoma Native Languages in the 21st Century,": A Festival of Ideas Global Research Institute Event (University Hall 011)
:: Rescheduled: Tuesday November 8, 5 pm (University Hall 011) ::
- Dr. Mary Linn is on the faculty at the University of Oklahoma, where where she is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology and Associate Curator of Native American Languages in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Her book, A Reference Grammar of Euchee, is forthcoming from the Nebraska University Press Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians series. She works with native language teachers and programs in Oklahoma. As curator of native languages, she continues to develop a language resource collection as well as revitalization programming in collaboration with Oklahoma tribes.
Nov 2 (Wednesday)
noon: Verbal Arts in the World's Languages, featuring the Māori haka (Trimble Hall 200)
- Introduction by Dr. Joseph Sabbagh
- Nepali performing art: Rubi Gurung and Mahesh Thakurathi (UT Arlington students)
- Maori Haka (war cry dance): Tiri Muru
5 pm: Dr. Michael Cahill (SIL), "Extreme Literacy: Developing an Orthography for an Unwritten Language" (University Hall 011)
- Dr. Michael Cahill is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, where he has taught field methods, phonetics, and phonology. He was the International Linguistics Coordinator for SIL International for 11 years, and now serves as Editor in Chief of SIL’s academic publications. He worked in Ghana for 11 years in connection with the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation. He has extensive field experience in literacy, language development, and translation. Dr. Cahill earned his M.A. in Linguistics from UT Arlington.
Nov 3 (Thursday)
noon: Verbal Arts in the Languages of Africa (Trimble Hall 200)
- Introduction by Dr. Jason Kandybowicz
- Lord's Prayer in Amharic: Tsega Getenet (UT Arlington student)
- Story in Kabiye: Dr. Cécile M. Padayodi (UT Arlington alumnus)
5 pm: Screening of "The Linguists" with panel discussion following, featuring Drs. Timothy Montler and Sadaf Munshi (UNT) and Dr. Colleen Fitzgerald (UT Arlington) (University Hall 011)
Nov 4 (Friday) :: a Native American Heritage Month event ::
noon: The Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program: sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and the Native American Student Association (Trimble Hall 115)
- Teresa Workman (Chickasaw Language Program Coordinator)
- Stanley Smith (Chickasaw elder; Senior Language Master)
- Jerry Imotichey (Chickasaw elder; Senior Language Master)
- Brandon White Eagle (Chickasaw Language Office Coordinator)
- Clovis Hamilton (Chickasaw Language Outreach Specialist)
Nov 8 (Tuesday) :: a Native American Heritage Month event ::
5 pm: Dr. Mary Linn (U Oklahoma), "State of the State: Oklahoma Native Languages in the 21st Century,": A Festival of Ideas Global Research Institute Event (University Hall 011)
- Dr. Mary Linn is on the faculty at the University of Oklahoma, where where she is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology and Associate Curator of Native American Languages in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Her book, A Reference Grammar of Euchee, is forthcoming from the Nebraska University Press Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians series. She works with native language teachers and programs in Oklahoma. As curator of native languages, she continues to develop a language resource collection as well as revitalization programming in collaboration with Oklahoma tribes.
This UT Arlington event is possible thanks to the generosity of the College of Liberal Arts, the Honors College, the Festival of Ideas Global Research Institute, the Native American Student Association, Lingua, and the Department of Linguistics & TESOL.
Presentation Downloads
Some of the speakers have made their presentation slides available to us; those are posted here. Note that aspects of the presentation may be unclear or missing from just the slides. If you have any questions about the content, contact the presenter.
Event Photos
