Lucy Shepard Freeland (1890–1972) was an American linguist who pioneered the study of
Miwok languages
The Miwok or Miwokan languages (; ), also known as ''Moquelumnan'' or ''Miwuk'', are a group of endangered languages spoken in central California by the Miwok peoples, ranging from the Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. There ar ...
. Though she adopted the name Nancy in everyday life, she continued to publish as L. S. Freeland. A student of
Alfred Kroeber
Alfred Louis Kroeber ( ; June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the fi ...
, she was married to the writer
Jaime de Angulo
Jaime de Angulo (1887–1950) was a linguist, novelist, and ethnomusicologist in the western United States. He was born in Paris of Spanish parents. He came to America in 1905 to become a cowboy, and eventually arrived in San Francisco on the eve ...
from 1923 to 1943, and the pair collaborated on studies of
Native Californians
Indigenous peoples of California, commonly known as Indigenous Californians or Native Californians, are a diverse group of nations and peoples that are indigenous to the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and afte ...
in the 1920s and 1930s. Freeland's ''Languages of the Sierra Miwok'' (1951) has been praised as "one of the finest grammars of any California Indian language". The book contains the earliest known use of the term
code-switching
In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. These alternations are generally intended to ...
.
Works
* "Pomo Doctors and Poisoners". ''American Archaeology and Ethnology'', Vol. 20, No. 4 (1923), pp. 57–73
* (with
Jaime de Angulo
Jaime de Angulo (1887–1950) was a linguist, novelist, and ethnomusicologist in the western United States. He was born in Paris of Spanish parents. He came to America in 1905 to become a cowboy, and eventually arrived in San Francisco on the eve ...
) "Notes on the Northern Paiute of California". ''Journal de la Société des Américanistes'', Vol. 21, No. 2 (1929). pp. 313–335
* (with Jame de Angulo) "The Achumawi language". ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', Vol. 6, No. 2 (1930), pp. 77–120
* (with Jame de Angulo) "Karok Texts". ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', Vol. 6, No. 3-4 (1931), pp. 194–226
* (with Jame de Angulo) "The Lutuami Language (Klamath-Modoc)". ''Journal de la Société des Américanistes'', Vol. 23 (1931), pp. 1–45
* (with Jame de Angulo) "Miwok and Pomo Myths". ''Journal of American Folk-Lore'', Vol. 41, No.160 (1928), pp. 232–252
* (with Jame de Angulo) "A New Religious Movement in North-Central California". ''American Anthropologist'', Vol. 31, No. 2 (1929), pp. 265–270
* "Western Miwok Texts with Linguistic Sketch". ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', Vol. 13, No. 1 (January 1947), pp. 31–46
* ''Language of the Sierra Miwok''. Baltimore: Waverly Press, Inc., 1951.
* (with
Sylvia M. Broadbent) ''Central Sierra Miwok Dictionary, with Texts''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960.
References
1890 births
1972 deaths
Linguists from the United States
American women linguists
American women academics
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