Marie-Lucie Tarpent (born November 9, 1941) is a French-born Canadian linguist, formerly an associate professor of linguistics and French at Mount Saint Vincent University [MSVU], Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is known for her descriptive work on the Nisga'a language, a member of the Tsimshianic language family,[1][2] and for her proof of the affiliation of the Tsimshianic languages to the Penutian language group.[3]
Marie-Lucie Tarpent | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 9, 1941 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Paris BA Cornell University MA University of Victoria PhD |
| Thesis | A Grammar of the Nisgha Language (1987) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Linguist |
| Institutions | Coast Mountain College (formerly Northwest Community College) Mount Saint Vincent University |
| Main interests | Nisga'a language |
| Notable works | "Documenting Alaskan and Neighboring Languages." |
Early life and education
editMarie-Lucie Tarpent was born on November 9, 1941, in Tonnerre, France.[2] Tarpent graduated with a licence ès lettres (bachelor's) degree in English and German from University of Paris, Sorbonne in 1963.[4] The following year, she attended the University of Vermont before earning a master's degree in linguistics in 1965 from Cornell University.[2] From 1967–1970 and 1974–1977, Tarpent attended Simon Fraser University.[2][5] She was on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council doctoral fellowship in from 1981–1983.[2] In 1983, Tarpent was a part-time instructor at Northwest Community College (now called "Coast Mountain College").[4] She completed her Doctorate in Linguistics at the University of Victoria in 1989.[4]
Career
editIn addition to her work on the Nisga'a language, in the 1990s she contributed to the expansion of Harlan I. Smith's early work: Ethnobotany of the Gitksan Indians of British Columbia with details of the Gitksan language. The expanded version was published in 1997.[6][7] While at the University of Victoria, she published an analysis of the counting systems of the Nishga and Gitskan languages.[8]
In 1998, Tarpent, with linguist Daythal Kendall, presented a paper on the lack of evidence for a close relationship between the Oregon Penutian languages Takelma and Kalapuyan, and therefore for the previously hypothesized "Takelman".[9][10] In 1999, Tarpent authored a chapter titled ""On the eve of a new paradigm: The current challenges to comparative linguisitics in a Kuhnian perspective."[11] She has contributed significantly to the knowledge on Nisga'a and Southern Tsimshianic languages at Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation, particularly in regard to the importance of morphemes.[12]
Starting in September 2007, Tarpent was one of ten senior scholars in the field of linguistics to participate in the International Polar Year project "Documenting Alaskan and Neighboring Languages."[4][13]
Works
edit- Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1982). Ergative and accusative: a single representation of grammatical relations with evidence from Nisgha. University of Victoria: Working Papers of the Linguistic Circle 2:1.
- Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1983). Morphophonemics of Nisgha plural formation: a step towards Proto-Tsimshian reconstruction. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 8.2. pp. 123–214.
- Tarpent, M. L. (1987). A Grammar of the Nisgha Language. University of Victoria. ISBN 978-0-315-68126-2.
- Tarpent, M. L. (January 1997). "Tsimshianic and Penutian: Problems, Methods, Results, and Implications". International Journal of American Linguistics. 63 (1): 65–112. doi:10.1086/466314. S2CID 145019037.
- L. J. Brinton, ed. (2001). "On the eve of a new paradigm". Historical Linguistics 1999: Selected Papers from the 14th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Vancouver, 9-13 August 1999. Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science: 4. J. Benjamins. ISBN 978-1-58811-064-0. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
References
edit- ^ 1986 (editor/compiler) Han'iimagoon'isgum-algax_hl Nisg_a'a/Nisgha Phrase Dictionary. New Aiyansh, B.C.: School District 92 (Nisgha). 564 pp. [A very Copious phrase book in 38 chapters with Nisgha/English and English/Nisgha Indexes; about 5,000 Nisgha items indexed]
- ^ a b c d e Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1992). A grammar of the Nisgha language. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada. ISBN 0315681268. OCLC 28018655.
- ^ Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1997-01-01). "Tsimshianic and Penutian: Problems, Methods, Results, and Implications". International Journal of American Linguistics. 63 (1): 65–112. doi:10.1086/466314. ISSN 0020-7071. S2CID 145019037.
- ^ a b c d "IPY: Documenting Alaskan and Neighboring Languages | M. L. Tarpent". 2012-10-05. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
- ^ "Biographies: Marie-Lucie Tarpent". Yinka Déné Language Institute. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ "Bibliography of Materials on the Gitksan Language". Yinka Déné Language Institute. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ Smith, Harlan Ingersoll; Compton, Brian D.; Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1997). Ethnobotany of the Gitksan Indians of British Columbia. Canadian Museum of Civilization. ISBN 978-0-660-15968-3.
- ^ Tarpent, Marie-Lucie (1983). "The Evolution of the Nisgha Counting System: A Window on Cultural Change". University of Victoria: Working Papers of the Linguistics Circle, Vol 3, No 1. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ 1998 On the relationship between Takelma and Kalapuyan: Another look at "Takelman". Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas.
- ^ Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Brinton, Laurel J. (2001). Historical linguistics 1999: selected papers from the 14th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Vancouver, 9-13 August 1999. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. ISBN 1588110648. OCLC 70769055.
- ^ Marsden, Susan (2012). "The Gitk'a'ata, their History, and their Territories" (PDF). Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
- ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#0732787 - IPY-Documenting Alaskan and Neighboring Languages". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2017-12-29.