Colleen M. Fitzgerald is an American

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...

who specializes in

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

, as well as

language documentation Language documentation (also: documentary linguistics) is a subfield of linguistics which aims to describe the grammar and use of human languages. It aims to provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given sp ...

and revitalization, especially with

Native American Native Americans or Native American may refer to: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North and South America and their descendants * Native Americans in the United States * Indigenous peoples in Cana ...

languages.

Career and research

She earned her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

in linguistics in 1997 at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

. Her dissertation focused on prosody in Tohono O'odham, an

Uto-Aztecan language Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The na ...

. She has published on Tohono O'odham, as well as other languages. Her other publications are on the topic of

service learning Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs. Service-learning involves students in service proje ...

in linguistics, including in

indigenous language An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...

revitalization courses. Fitzgerald is the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North ...

. Previously she was Associate Vice President for research at

Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, TAMU-CC, A&M-Corpus Christi, or A&M-CC) is a public research university in Corpus Christi, Texas. It is part of the Texas A&M University System and classified among "R2: Doctora ...

, and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

in the Department of Linguistics and TESOL the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of ...

where she directed the

Native American Language Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entertai ...

s Lab. She formerly served as

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

of the department. Fitzgerald served as Director of the 2014 Institute on Collaborative Research, or

CoLang The Institute on Collaborative Language Research or CoLang is a biennial training institute in language documentation for any person interested in community-based, collaborative language work. CoLang has been described as part of a modern collabor ...

2014. This was the fourth iteration of this international training workshop in language documentation and revitalization. With linguist Mary Linn, she co-directed the 2012 and 2014 Oklahoma Breath of Life Workshops.

Honors and distinctions

In 2021, Fitzgerald was inducted both as a

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected ...

and as

Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is an honor accorded by the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) to distinguished members of the society. LSA Fellows are "members of the Society who have made distinguished contributions to the dis ...

. In 2017 she was an invited plenary speaker at the

Linguistic Society of America The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...

annual meeting, talking on, "The Sounds of Indigenous Language Revitalization." From 2015 to 2019 Fitzgerald served as the program director for the

Documenting Endangered Languages The Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) program is a joint effort between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to help fund fieldwork, research, and community activities that are involved in ...

program at the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Selected publications

* Fitzgerald, Colleen. 1997. O'odham Rhythms. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona. * Fitzgerald, Colleen. 1998. The Meter of Tohono O'odham

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

International Journal of American Linguistics The ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' (''IJAL'') is an academic journal devoted to the study of the indigenous languages of the Americas. ''IJAL'' focuses on the investigation of linguistic data and the presentation of grammatical ...

64: 1-36. * Fitzgerald, Colleen. 1999.

Loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...

s and Stress in Tohono O'odham. Anthropological Linguistics 41: 1-33. * Fitzgerald, Colleen. 2000.

Vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (l ...

Hiatus and Faithfulness in Tohono O'odham Reduplication. Linguistic Inquiry 31: 713-722. * Fitzgerald, Colleen. 2002. Tohono O'odham Stress in a Single Ranking. Phonology 19:253-271. * Fitzgerald, Colleen. 2010
Developing a Service-Learning Curriculum for Linguistics
Language and Linguistics Compass 4:4, 204-218. * Fitzgerald, Colleen M. & Joshua D. Hinson. 2013. 'Ilittibatoksali 'We work together': Perspectives on Our Chickasaw Tribal-Academic Collaboration, in Norris, Mary Jane, Erik Anonby, Marie-Odile Junker, Nicholas Ostler & Donna Patrick (eds.), FEL Proceedings XVII (Ottawa, 2013) FEL XVII:

Endangered Language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead lang ...

s Beyond Boundaries: Community Connections, Collaborative Approaches, and Cross-Disciplinary Research. 53-60. Bath, England: The Foundation for Endangered Languages. * Fitzgerald, Colleen M. & Mary S. Linn. 2013
Training Communities, Training Graduate Students: The 2012 Oklahoma Breath of Life Workshop

Language Documentation Language documentation (also: documentary linguistics) is a subfield of linguistics which aims to describe the grammar and use of human languages. It aims to provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given sp ...

and Conservation 7: 185-206.

References

External links

Colleen Fitzgerald webpage

Colleen Fitzgerald (Linguistic Society of America Member Spotlight)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Colleen Linguists from the United States University of Arizona alumni Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the Linguistic Society of America Living people University of Texas at Arlington faculty American women linguists 1972 births