Nominations for SSILA Executive Secretary/Treasurer

Nominations for  SSILA Executive Secretary/Treasurer SSILA is looking for an Executive Secretary/Treasurer for the three-year term beginning at the SSILA meeting in New York City in 2019.  Attendance at that meeting is not required but would be helpful. Please nominate yourself or someone else by May 1, 2018.  Please give a brief explanation of why you or person X would be a good fit for this position.  Nominations should be sent to:  Keren Rice, rice@chass.utoronto.ca, or Carolyn MacKay, cjmackay@bsu.edu. Description of the position: The Executive Secretary/Treasurer works closely with the SSILA Chair and Executive Committee, carrying out administrative responsibilities associated with maintaining membership, financial records, preparing ballots, etc. The Executive Secretary/Treasurer is appointed by SSILAʼs Executive Committee and serves for 3 years. Duties include the following: Keep SSILA accounts up to date, maintain bank account, process checks, process credit cards via PayPal’s virtual terminal, pay bills, prepare annual financial reports for SSILA meetings, maintain SSILA’s CA and federal non-profit status. File taxes for the non-profit.Organize Award and Prize submissions.Organize ballots and voting.IJAL: Coordinate IJAL subscriptions and payments. Provide IJAL editor with subscription requests quarterly. Transfer payment to IJAL.Keep track of and correspond with membership. Write up minutes and agendas.Post news to SSILA website and Facebook - with webmaster and Facebook Administrator.Help maintain and update the website (with webmaster).Other responsibilities as they arise. Benefits: $1000 yearly stipendTravel expenses to the SSILA meetingOpportunity to interact with many members of SSILAProfessional advancement experience

SSILA 2019 - Call for Organized Session Proposals

Annual Meeting, New York City, NY

January 3-6, 2019

Call for Organized Session Proposals*

*Please note that there will be a call for regular papers and posters in the coming weeks.  This call is only for organized session proposals.

Deadline for Organized Session Proposals: May 1st, 2018

The annual winter meeting of SSILA will be held jointly with the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America in New York City, NY on January 3-6, 2019.

Call for Organized Session Proposals

SSILA welcomes proposals for organized sessions.  This is an opportunity for researchers to present a series of presentations that revolve around a single typological, methodological or areal theme.  The presentations must be based on original research focusing on the linguistic study of the indigenous languages of the Americas.

Organized sessions involve more than one scholar and are expected to make a distinctive and creative contribution to the meeting. Proposals for organized sessions are NOT reviewed anonymously. These sessions may include several presentations focused on a specific theme, a major presentation with invited discussants, and other types of sessions with a clear, specific, and coherent rationale.

Abstract Submission

The deadline for receipt of organized session proposals is midnight (the end of the day) May 1st.

Authors of successful SSILA session proposals may wish to submit their proposals to the LSA for co-sponsorship.  Please note that the LSA deadline for organized sessions is on May 15th.  The SSILA committee will make a decision about these proposals before the LSA submission deadline.  For more information on submitting organized session proposals to the LSA 2018 Annual Meeting, see the LSA website (http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/lsa-2018-annual-meeting-call-organized-session-proposals).

All organized session proposals should be submitted electronically by e-mail to SSILA Program Committee Administrator Martin Kohlberger (conferences@ssila.org). Any queries prior to the submission deadline can also be sent to this e-mail address.  Proposals should be submitted in English.

The proposal must indicate whether it is intended to be a joint SSILA/LSA session or a SSILA session, and should include:

(1) a session abstract outlining the purpose, motivation, length (maximum: 3 hours), and justification for the session;

(2) names of all participants, including discussants, and titles of papers;

(3) a complete account, including timetable, of what each participant will do. Note that organized sessions do not have to follow the 20-minute paper + 10-minute discussion format. However, the presentation format should be clearly described;

(4) a maximum one-page abstract for each participant, 11pt or 12pt font, 1-inch margins; references can be on a second page.

The entire proposal should be submitted in a single PDF document.

ANLC CoLang Fellowships Awarded

The Alaska Native Langauge Center (ANLC) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has awarded 17 full fellowships to Alaskans to attend CoLang 2018, the endangered language documentation and language continuity institute. CoLang 2018 will take place this summer at the University of Florida from June 18th - July 20th. Full a full description of the institute, see https://colang.lin.ufl.edu/.

WAIL abstracts and travel applications due soon!

Abstracts and applications for travel scholarships to the 21st Annual Workshop on American Indigenous Languages (WAIL 21) are due Friday, February 23.

Meeting Description

The Linguistics department at the University of California, Santa Barbara announces its 21st Annual Workshop on American Indigenous Languages (WAIL), which provides a forum for the discussion of theoretical, descriptive, and practical studies of the indigenous languages of the Americas.

Keynote Speaker: Anthony K. Webster (University of Texas at Austin)

Anthony K. Webster is a linguistic anthropologist and author of the books Explorations in Navajo Poetry and Poetics (UNM, 2009) and Intimate Grammars: An Ethnography of Navajo Poetry (Arizona, 2015). His research focuses on the interplay between language, culture, the individual and the imagination. He has published articles on Navajo ethnopoetics and Navajo language and culture in, among others, the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology; International Journal of American Linguistics; Anthropological Linguistics; Journal de la Société des Américanistes; Anthropology and Humanism; the Journal of Anthropological Research; and the Journal of American Folklore. His third book, The Sounds of Navajo Poetry: A Humanities of Speaking, is due out in 2018.

Call for Papers

Anonymous abstracts are invited for talks on any topic relevant to the study of indigenous languages of the Americas. Talks will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be 500 words or less (excluding examples and/or references).Individuals may submit abstracts for one single-authored and one co-authored paper. Please indicate your source(s) and type(s) of data in the abstract (e.g. recordings, texts, conversational, elicited, narrative, etc.). For co-authored papers, please indicate who plans to present the paper as well as who will be in attendance.Abstracts should be submitted in .pdf format through the EasyAbs system at www.linguistlist.org/easyabs/WAIL21.Hard copy submissions will be accepted from those who do not have Internet access. Please send four copies of your abstract, along with a 3x5 card with the following information:

  1. your name
  2. affiliation
  3. mailing address
  4. phone number
  5. email address
  6. title of your paper

Send hard copy submissions to:

Workshop on American Indigenous Languages

Attn: Adrienne Tsikewa or Jesús Olguín Martinez

Department of Linguistics

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: February 23, 2018Notification of acceptance will arrive by email no later than March 9, 2018.

Travel Scholarships

This year WAIL is pleased to offer 3 travel scholarships in the amount of $300 each. To be eligible, applicants must submit an abstract via EasyAbs and complete a brief application at the the following link:https://tinyurl.com/WAIL21TravelScholarshipApplicants will need to provide a statement that addresses the following:

  1. Why you wish to present at WAIL 21 and how it will benefit your studies and/or program milestones
  2. Your financial situation, needs, and if you are receiving any other funding to attend this conference

Successful applicants will be determined based on the quality of the submitted abstract and statement/need.

General Information

Santa Barbara is situated on the Pacific Ocean near the Santa Yñez Mountains. The UCSB campus is located near the Santa Barbara airport. Participants may also fly into LAX airport in Los Angeles, which is approximately 90 miles southeast of the campus. Shuttle buses run between LAX and Santa Barbara.For further information, please contact the conference coordinators, Adrienne Tsikewa or Jesus Olguin Martinez, at wail.ucsb@gmail.com or check out our website, http://osl.sa.ucsb.edu/org/nail/WAIL.

CFP: WAIL 2018

Meeting Description

The Linguistics department at the University of California, Santa Barbara announces its 21st Annual Workshop on American Indigenous Languages (WAIL), which provides a forum for the discussion of theoretical, descriptive, and practical studies of the indigenous languages of the Americas.

Keynote Speaker

Anthony K. Webster (University of Texas at Austin)Anthony K. Webster is a linguistic anthropologist and author of the books Explorations in Navajo Poetry and Poetics (UNM, 2009) and Intimate Grammars: An Ethnography of Navajo Poetry (Arizona, 2015). His research focuses on the interplay between language, culture, the individual and the imagination. He has published articles on Navajo ethnopoetics and Navajo language and culture in, among others, the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology; International Journal of American Linguistics; Anthropological Linguistics; Journal de la Société des Américanistes; Anthropology and Humanism; the Journal of Anthropological Research; and the Journal of American Folklore. His thirdbook, The Sounds of Navajo Poetry: A Humanities of Speaking, is due out in 2018.

Call for Papers

Anonymous abstracts are invited for talks on any topic relevant to the study of indigenous languages of the Americas. Talks will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be 500 words or less (excluding examples and/or references).Individuals may submit abstracts for one single-authored and one co-authored paper. Please indicate your source(s) and type(s) of data in the abstract (e.g. recordings, texts, conversational, elicited, narrative, etc.). For co-authored papers, please indicate who plans to present the paper as well as who will be in attendance.Abstracts should be submitted in .pdf format through the EasyAbs system at www.linguistlist.org/easyabs/WAIL21.Hard copy submissions will be accepted from those who do not have Internet access. Please send four copies of your abstract, along with a 3x5 card with the following information:

  1. your name
  2. affiliation
  3. mailing address
  4. phone number
  5. email address
  6. title of your paper

Send hard copy submissions to:

Workshop on American Indigenous Languages

Attn: Adrienne Tsikewa or Jesus Olguin Martinez

Department of Linguistics

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: February 23, 2018Notification of acceptance will arrive by email no later than March 9, 2018.

General Information

Santa Barbara is situated on the Pacific Ocean near the Santa Yñez Mountains. The UCSB campus is located near the Santa Barbara airport. Participants may also fly into LAX airport in Los Angeles, which is approximately 90 miles southeast of the campus. Shuttle buses run between LAX and Santa Barbara.For further information, please contact the conference coordinators, Adrienne Tsikewa or Jesus Olguin Martinez, at wail.ucsb@gmail.com or check out our website, http://osl.sa.ucsb.edu/org/nail/WAIL.

Online Tlingit Verb Dictionary

SSILA members are invited to look the Online Tlingit Verb Dictionary, a database of over 1,000 conjugated Tlingit verbs. This project was funded by the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Administration for Native Americans, Sealaska Heritage Institute, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.Click here to visit the dictionary.For more information, check out this link.

Two maps showing Canadian Aboriginal languages

Every five years, Canada holds a census which includes several questions on language. The last census was held in 2016, and the data pertaining to language were released in August and October, 2017, respectively. Of particular interest to the SSILA readership are the data concerning “Aboriginal” (the Canadian government’s cover term for “First Nations, Inuit, and Métis”) languages.This data has been visualized in two rather different, yet similar, maps.The map released on Dec 15, 2017 by Chris Brackley in GeoCanada shows the responses to Question 8 of the 2016 Census: “a) What language does this person speak most often at home? b) Does this person speak any other languages on a regular basis at home?” for the Aboriginal languages of Canada, organized by language family. Colour-coded dots indicate where languages of each family are spoken; speaker numbers are represented by dot-size; the larger the dot, the more speakers there are.Another, as yet unpublished, map was produced by Joseph Lovick (full disclosure: Olga Lovick’s husband). J. Lovick mapped responses to Question 9 of the 2016 Census: “What is the language that this person first learned at home in childhood and still understands?” Again, Canadian Aboriginal languages are indicated by colour-coded dots, again they are organized by language family, again dot size correlates with speaker number.When comparing the two maps, one notices that (questions of scale and other technical aspects aside) the dots on J. Lovick’s map are smaller, especially in British Columbia, where a large number of Canada’s Aboriginal languages can be found. Why?The different datasets tell different stories. C. Brackley’s map includes counts of both native speakers and L2 learners. Since census data relies by its nature on self-reporting, and since language is highly politicized in Canada, we suspect that some individuals may have exaggerated their language use. J. Lovick’s map on the other hand shows “mother tongue” data; while the concerns about the validity of census data apply here as well, thi census question is less open to interpretation. ("Thank you" to Bill Poser for discussing these issues with me!)J. Lovick’s map shows the full impact of Canada’s Aboriginal policies for the majority of the country’s history. For most language families, there are now very few speakers, and most languages are not projected to survive into the next century. Most vital are languages in remote areas. This is the grim heritage of the Residential School System.C. Brackley’s map shows how cognizant of this endangerment Aboriginal people in Canada are. By claiming home language use on the census, they are shouting “We are here! We need our languages and we’re working to keep them alive!” The map expresses the hope that Aboriginal languages can be brought back from the brink.Two language maps -- two stories.Check them out here:Chris Brackley, 2017, Number of people speaking Indigenous Languages at home. Canadian Geographic, November/December 2017. Online at: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/mapping-indigenous-languages-canada.Joseph Lovick, 2017, Aboriginal language speakers in Canada. Online at: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mineralogy/Lingmap/Mother_tongue_Canda.pdf Information on the Language questions in the 2016 Census can be found here:http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/guides/003/98-500-x2016003-eng.cfm

Updated call for participants: Expanding linguistic science by broadening Native American participation

Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Satellite Workshop and Accompanying ActivitiesLSA Annual Meeting, January 4-7, 2018, Salt Lake City, Utah

Project Description

Linguistic science has a long history of research on the Indigenous languages of North America, yet it is rare for such research to be framed around the knowledge systems of those language communities. This project focuses on identifying, valorizing, and disseminating the intellectual tools and cultural values of those communities as a way to improve linguistic science, through a satellite workshop and series of activities held immediately prior to and during the 2018 LSA Annual Meeting. The project’s objective is to improve the field of Linguistics by broadening the participation of Native Americans, here defined very broadly to include American Indian, Alaska Native, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis community members, partly by creating a means for theseindividuals to attend and participate in the LSA Annual Meeting, but more significantly, by developing and promoting strategies to better integrate Native American needs and values about language into linguistic science.The project will have roughly 40 participants, consisting of Native American linguists and other community scholars who are engaged in language work, as well as non-Native linguists whose professional work engages with these communities. The project will consist of an all-day workshop on Thursday, January 4, 2018 in which participants will discuss and delve into project themes, followed by a three-hour symposium on Saturday, January 6, 2018, open to all LSA meeting attendees, featuring Native American scholars speaking about these themes. Outside of project activities, participants are expected to attend other LSA annual meeting events (sessions, plenaries, etc.). The project will conclude with a meeting of workshop participants on Sunday, January 7, 2018 in order to debrief from the LSA meeting and identify future goals.Participants will be selected through a competitive application process. The project will cover the costs of attending the workshop and accompanying activities for the selected individuals, including travel expenses up to $700 (arrangements to be coordinated by project staff), lodging at the LSA host hotel, meals, and meeting registration fees.

Overview of Schedule

Thursday, January 4, 2018

  • All-day workshop (limited to selected participants)

Saturday, January 6, 2018

  • Three-hour symposium (open to all LSA meeting attendees), co-sponsored by the LSA Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP), and the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA), featuring Native American scholars

Sunday, January 7, 2018

  • Debriefing meeting for participants of the Thursday workshop

Project Co-Chairs

  • Wesley Y. Leonard (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; University of California, Riverside)
  • Megan Lukaniec (Huron-Wendat Nation; University of California, Santa Barbara)

Workshop Coordinator

  • Adrienne Tsikewa (Zuni Pueblo; University of California, Santa Barbara)

Who Should Apply

  • Individuals from Native American communities (as defined above) who are engaged in work related to this project (for example, language speakers, language teachers, language program administrators, professional linguists, etc.) and have an interest in contributing their perspectives to linguistic science.
  • Non-Native professional linguists who are engaged in work related to this project’s themes. (Graduate students who have prior experience working with Indigenous communities and participating in LSA meetings may apply.)

Applicants must be available to attend all project activities. Normally, this will entailtraveling to Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday, January 3, 2018 and staying through theafternoon of Sunday, January 7, 2018.

Application Procedures

The application is available via the following link: https://tinyurl.com/NALingApp18To prepare your application, questions can be accessed here: https://tinyurl.com/NALingAppQ18(Applicants who are unable to complete an online application should contact the Workshop Coordinator by phone at (571) 882-2537 to make other arrangements.)Applications are due on Tuesday, October 24, 2017.

Additional Details

Questions? Please contact the workshop coordinator at natives4linguistics18@gmail.com.For an overview of the Linguistic Society of America, please click on the following link: https://www.linguisticsociety.org/aboutFor details about the 2018 Annual Meeting, please go to the following site: https://www.linguisticsociety.org/event/lsa-2018-annual-meetingFor an overview of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA),please click on the following link: https://ssila.org/about/All project activities will occur at the LSA/SSILA meeting site: The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.This project is supported by the National Science Foundation Documenting Endangered Languages Program Grant no. 1743743. For more information see https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1743743

Call for participants: Expanding linguistic science by broadening Native American participation

Expanding Linguistic Science By Broadening Native American Participation

Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Satellite Workshop and Accompanying Activities

LSA Annual Meeting, January 4-7, 2018, Salt Lake City, Utah

Project description:Linguistic science has a long history of research on the Indigenous languages of North America, yet it is rare for such research to be framed around the knowledge systems of those language communities. This project focuses on identifying, valorizing, and disseminating the intellectual tools and cultural values of those communities as a way to improve linguistic science, through a satellite workshop and series of activities held immediately prior to and during the 2018 LSA Annual Meeting. The project’s objective is to improve the field of Linguistics by broadening the participation of Native Americans, here defined very broadly to include American Indian, Alaska Native, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis community members, partly by creating a means for these individuals to attend and participate in the LSA Annual Meeting, but more significantly, by developing and promoting strategies to better integrate Native American needs and values about language into linguistic science.The project will have roughly 40 participants, consisting of Native American linguists and other community scholars who are engaged in language work, as well as non-Native linguists whose professional work engages with these communities. The project will consist of an all-day workshop on Thursday, January 4, 2018 in which participants will discuss and delve into project themes, followed by a three-hour symposium on Saturday, January 6, 2018, open to all LSA meeting attendees, featuring Native American scholars speaking about these themes. Outside of project activities, participants are expected to attend other LSA annual meeting events (sessions, plenaries, etc.). The project will conclude with a meeting of workshop participants on Sunday, January 7, 2018 in order to debrief from the LSA meeting and identify future goals.Participants will be selected through a competitive application process. The project will cover the costs of attending the workshop and accompanying activities for the selected individuals, including travel expenses up to $700 (arrangements to be coordinated by project staff), lodging at the LSA host hotel, meals, and meeting registration fees.

AILLA Launch Announcement / Anuncio de lanzamiento de AILLA

English:Today, Indigenous Peoples' Day, October 9, 2017, marks the public launch of the newly migrated and updated Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. AILLA is a digital language archive of recordings, texts, and other multimedia materials in and about the indigenous languages of Latin America. AILLA's mission is to preserve these materials and make them available to Indigenous Peoples, researchers, and other friends of these languages now and for generations to come. The look and feel of this new site has been updated, and some user functionality has been added, including the ability to perform a keyword search across all collections, as well as the ability to stream and view some media files without having to download them first. Access to AILLA and its resources is always free of charge. Most of the resources in the collection are available to the public, but some have special access restrictions.Important information about using the site:

  • You must Register and log in to view, stream, or download any media file.
  • If you created your AILLA account prior to July 2015, then your username (but not your password) was migrated to this new repository. You just need to request a new password to reset it.
  • If you created your user account after July 2015, then you will need to create a new account.
  • If you are a UT-Austin student, faculty or staff member, please do NOT use your UT EID or password for your AILLA user account.

We hope you enjoy exploring the new AILLA. For help, contact AILLA.Español:Hoy, el Día de los Pueblos Indígenas, 9 de octubre de 2017, marca el lanzamiento público del recién migrado y actualizado Archivo de los Idiomas Indígenas de Latinoamérica. AILLA es un archivo digital que espcializa en la preservacion de idiomas y que contiene grabaciones, textos y otros materiales multimedia en y sobre los idiomas indígenas de América Latina. La misión de AILLA es preservar estos materiales y ponerlos a disposición de los Pueblos Indígenas, investigadores y otros amigos de estas lenguas ahora y para las generaciones venideras. Se ha actualizado la apariencia del nuevo sitio y se ha añadido una funcionalidad de usuario, incluida la posibilidad de realizar una búsqueda por palabra clave en todas las colecciones, así como la posibilidad de transmitir y ver algunos archivos multimedia sin tener que descargarlos primero. El acceso al AILLA y sus recursos siempre es gratis. La mayor parte de los recursos en la colección está disponible al público, pero algunos tienen restricciones de acceso.Información importante sobre el uso del nuevo sitio:

  • Usted tendrá que registrarse y entrar al sistema para poder transmitir, ver o descargar archivos.
  • Si creó su cuenta de AILLA antes de julio de 2015, el nombre de usuario de su cuenta (pero no su contraseña) se migró al nuevo repositorio. Sólo tiene que Solicitar nueva contraseña para restablecerla.
  • Si creó su cuenta de AILLA después de julio de 2015, deberá crear una nueva cuenta.
  • Si usted es estudiante o miembro de la facultad o del personal de UT-Austin, NO use su UT EID ni contraseña para su cuenta de AILLA.

Esperamos que disfrute explorando la nueva AILLA. Para ayuda, póngase en contacto con AILLA.