Rachel Nordlinger is an Australian linguist and a professor at

The University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

Education

After completing a master's degree at The University of Melbourne, she received her PhD in

linguistics 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. Lingu ...

in 1997 from Stanford University.

Research

Her research focuses on

Indigenous Australian languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

, and is based on fieldwork undertaken with

Bilinarra The Bilinarra, also spelt Bilingara and Bilinara, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language The Bilinarra language is classified as an eastern variety of one of the Pama-Nyungan Ngumbin languages. It is mutually i ...

, Wambaya, Gudanji, Murrinhpatha and

Marri Ngarr The Maringar are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. Country In Norman Tindale's estimate the Maringar had about midway along the Moyle River and its contiguous swamplands and various tributaries. Social organisation ...

communities. Her theoretical interests include syntactic and morphological theory, particularly Lexical Functional Grammar and its application to the complex grammatical structures of Australian Indigenous Languages. She has published widely on these topics in international journals, in addition to authoring four books. In other writing and interviews, she has discussed the importance of supporting the use and transmission of Indigenous Languages in Australia.

Career

Nordlinger is currently Professor in the School of Languages and Linguistics at

, and is Chief Investigator in the

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

(ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, and Director of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. Nordlinger was Vice-President of the

Australian Linguistic Society The Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) is an academic association for linguists. It was established in 1967 with the primary goal of furthering interest in and support for linguistics research and teaching in Australia. The Australian Linguistic S ...

in 2003-2004 and President from 2005-2007, as well as a member of the Nominating Committee of the Association of Linguistic Typology and Chair of the International Lexical Functional Grammar Association in 2011-12. In November 2017 she was elected fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Austra ...

Key publications

* 2014: Meakins, F., and R. Nordlinger. ''A Grammar of Bilinarra: An Australian Aboriginal Language of the Northern Territory.'' Walter de Gruyter. * 2014: Koch, H. and R. Nordlinger. ''The Languages and Linguistics of Australia.'' Mouton de Gruyter. * 2004: Nordlinger, R. and L. Sadler. Nominal tense in cross-linguistic perspective. ''Language'' 80(4): 776-806. * 1998: Nordlinger, R.'' A Grammar of Wambaya. ''Pacific Linguistics. * 1998: Nordlinger, R. ''Constructive Case: Evidence from Australian languages. ''CSLI Publications.

References

External links

Languages-linguistics.unimelb.edu.au

Blog.linguistlist.org

Dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au

Indiglang.arts.unimelb.edu.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordlinger, Rachel Living people Linguists from Australia Women linguists Linguists of Australian Aboriginal languages Linguists of Mirndi languages Linguists of Daly languages Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Academic staff of the University of Melbourne 21st-century linguists Year of birth missing (living people)