Colleen M. Fitzgerald is an American

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

who specializes in

phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...

, 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 speec ...

and revitalization, especially with Native American languages.

Career and research

She earned her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in linguistics in 1997 at the

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

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

Uto-Aztecan language The Uto-Aztecan languages are a family of native American languages, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The name of the language family reflects the common ...

. 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 uses community service to meet both classroom learning objectives and societal needs. It has been used with students of all grades and stages. Projects based in communities are designed to apply cla ...

in linguistics, including in

indigenous language An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigen ...

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, United States. It was ...

. 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 university, public research university on Ward Island (Texas), Ward Island in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. It i ...

, and

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

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, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...

where she directed the

Native American Language The Indigenous languages of the Americas are the languages that were used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas before the arrival of non-Indigenous peoples. Over a thousand of these languages are still used today, while many more are now e ...

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. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

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 A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

. 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 program at the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

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 performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

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 a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

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

Vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

Hiatus and Faithfulness in Tohono O'odham

Reduplication In linguistics, reduplication is a Morphology (linguistics), morphological process in which the Root (linguistics), root or Stem (linguistics), stem of a word, part of that, or the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. The cla ...

. 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 langua ...

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 speec ...

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