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 Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate programs in Arts, S ...

SVU Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is known for her descriptive work on the

Nisga'a The Nisga’a , often formerly spelled Nishga and spelled in the Nisga'a language as (pronounced ), are an Indigenous people of Canada in British Columbia. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The name is a ...

language, a member of the

Tsimshianic The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. All Tsimshianic languages are endangered, some with only around 400 speakers. Only around 2,170 ...

language family, and for her proof of the affiliation of the

Tsimshianic languages The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. All Tsimshianic languages are endangered, some with only around 400 speakers. Only around 2,170 ...

to the

Penutian Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The existence of a Penutian s ...

language group.

Early life and education

Marie-Lucie Tarpent was born on November 9, 1941, in Tonnerre, France. Tarpent graduated with a Licence ès Lettres (bachelor's) degree in English and German from University of Paris, Sorbonne in 1963. The following year, she attended the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...

before earning a master's degree in linguistics in 1965 from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. From 1967–1970 and 1974–1977, Tarpent attended

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

. She was on a

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada, CRSH) is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and traini ...

doctoral fellowship in from 1981–1983. In 1983, Tarpent was a part-time instructor at Northwest Community College (now called "

Coast Mountain College Coast Mountain College (CMTN) is an accredited, publicly-funded post-secondary educational institution that serves the communities of British Columbia's northwest region. CMTN offers field schools, college access, trades, university credit, healt ...

"). She completed her Doctorate in Linguistics at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

in 1989.

Career

In 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 Gitxsan language , or ''Gitxsanimaax'' (also rendered ''Gitksan, Giatikshan, Gityskyan, Giklsan and Sim Algyax''), is an endangered Tsimshianic language of northwestern British Columbia, closely related to the neighboring Nisga’a languag ...

. The expanded version was published in 1997. While at the

, she published an analysis of the counting systems of the Nishga and Gitskan languages. 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 The Takelma (also Dagelma) are a Native American people who originally lived in the Rogue Valley of interior southwestern Oregon. Most of their villages were sited along the Rogue River. The name ''Takelma'' means "(Those) Along the River". His ...

and Kalapuyan, and therefore for the previously hypothesized " Takelman". In 1999, Tarpent authored a chapter titled ""On the eve of a new paradigm: The current challenges to comparative linguisitics in a Kuhnian perspective." She has contributed significantly to the knowledge on

and Southern Tsimshianic languages at

Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation The Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation, also known as the Kitasoo/Xaixais Nation, is the band government of the First Nations people of Klemtu, British Columbia, Canada. The band comprises two ethnic groups who share an ancient alliance, the Kitasoo, a ...

, particularly in regard to the importance of morphemes. Starting in September 2007, Tarpent was one of ten senior scholars in the field of linguistics to participate in the

International Polar Year The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred i ...

project "Documenting Alaskan and Neighboring Languages."

Works

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References

External links

CV from the University of Alaska
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarpent, Marie-Lucie Living people 1941 births Linguists from Canada Women linguists Canadian women academics Paleolinguists Linguists of Penutian languages Linguists of Tsimshianic languages Mount Saint Vincent University faculty College of Sorbonne alumni University of Victoria alumni Cornell University alumni University of Vermont alumni Simon Fraser University alumni People from Tonnerre, Yonne 20th-century Canadian women scientists 21st-century Canadian women scientists 20th-century linguists 21st-century linguists French emigrants to Canada