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Professor Felicity Meakins
Professor

Felicity Meakins

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 53114

Overview

Background

I am a Professor of Linguistics in the School of Languages and Cultures. I am also a Fellow in the Academy for Social Sciences Australia (ASSA), a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities (AAH) and a member of the ARC College of Experts.

I just completed a Future Fellowship which focused on language evolution and contact processes across northern Australia where I have worked for the past two decades. I was also the Deputy Director of the UQ node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language which finished in late 2022.

In 2021, I won the Eureka Award for Interdisciplinary Scientific Research together with Cassandra Algy, Lindell Bromham and Xia Hua. In 2021, I also won the Linguistic Society of America (LSA)'s Kenneth L Hale Award for linguistic fieldwork.

I studied at the University of Queensland between 1995-2001. Between 2001-04, I worked as a community linguist at Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation facilitating revitalisation programs for Bilinarra and Ngarinyman people. I joined the Aboriginal Child Language project (University of Melbourne) in 2004 as a PhD student. I completed my PhD in 2008 and continued documenting Gurindji, Bilinarra and Gurindji Kriol as a part of the Jaminjungan and Eastern Ngumpin DOBES project, then with my own ELDP grant at the University of Manchester and finally returned to UQ with an ARC APD and then an ARC DECRA. I have also held an ARC DP which studied contact between Mudburra and Jingulu and Mudburra and Kriol.

I have co-compiled four dictionaries (Gurindji, Bilinarra, Ngarinyman and Mudburra) and two grammars (Bilinarra and Gurindji) and two ethnobiologies (Bilinarra/Gurindji/Malngin and Jingulu/Mudburra). I am also the author of Case-Marking in Contact (Benjamins, 2011), co-author of Understanding Linguistic Fieldwork (Routledge, 2018) and Songs from the Stations (Sydney University Press, 2019) and co-editor of Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages since Colonisation (Mouton, 2016) and Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country (2016, Aboriginal Studies Press). I have also authored over 55 papers on language contact and change in academic volumes and journals.

Availability

Professor Felicity Meakins is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Melbourne

Research interests

  • Language documentation, including fieldwork methodology, annotation of corpus data and the structure of reference grammars

  • Sociolinguistics, e.g. language ecologies, endangerment and shift, variationalist approaches

  • Morphology, particularly morphology in contact

  • Australian languages, including Gurindji, Gurindji Kriol, Bilinarra, Ngarinyman and Kriol

  • Language contact, particularly mixed languages, creole languages, code-switching and language convergence

Research impacts

First Nations groups want to ensure that their languages, cultures and stories are there for future generations. Australia has the world’s longest continuous collection of cultures, and Indigenous languages are key for the future survival of these cultures in the aftermath of the devastating effects of colonialism. They are shaped by the minds of individual speakers. They encode the social dynamics of groups over time. They support and transmit cultural practices. These languages are vital for ensuring a brighter future for younger Indigenous people.

The aim of my work over the last two decades has been to build interdisciplinary teams of Indigenous community members, students, postdocs, scientists & artists to document highly endangered First Nations languages. This work extends beyond the traditional boundaries of linguistic research to ground projects in the artistic, cultural & land-based practices of First Nations peoples. We have been aiming to make lasting records of these languages and address broader research questions related to human language and cognition.

I have co-authored a number of general audience books with Gurindji co-authors: Kawarla: How to Make a Coolamon (Batchelor Press, 2014), Mayarni-kari Yurrk: More Stories from Gurindji Country (2016, Batchelor Press), Birrka Marnini: Making Things Mudburra (Batchelor Press, 2019), and Karu: Growing up Gurindji (Spinifex Press, 2019). We have also produced a 30 short films for ICTV and NITV, 8 posters of Gurindji sign language and ethnobiological topics. I have also done research for Brenda L Croft's exhibition Still in my mind: Gurindji Location, Experience and Visuality. All of this work has been undertaken in collaboration with Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation and the Murnkurrumurnkurru rangers.

Works

Search Professor Felicity Meakins’s works on UQ eSpace

108 works between 1999 and 2024

1 - 20 of 108 works

Featured

2021

Book

A grammar of Gurindji: as spoken by Violet Wadrill, Ronnie Wavehill, Dandy Danbayarri, Biddy Wavehill, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal, Long Johnny Kijngayarri, Banjo Ryan, Pincher Nyurrmiari and Blanche Bulngari

Meakins, Felicity and McConvell, Patrick (2021). A grammar of Gurindji: as spoken by Violet Wadrill, Ronnie Wavehill, Dandy Danbayarri, Biddy Wavehill, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal, Long Johnny Kijngayarri, Banjo Ryan, Pincher Nyurrmiari and Blanche Bulngari. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110746884

A grammar of Gurindji: as spoken by Violet Wadrill, Ronnie Wavehill, Dandy Danbayarri, Biddy Wavehill, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal, Long Johnny Kijngayarri, Banjo Ryan, Pincher Nyurrmiari and Blanche Bulngari

Featured

2020

Journal Article

Which MATter matters in PATtern borrowing? The direction of case syncretisms

Meakins, Felicity, Disbray, Samantha and Simpson, Jane (2020). Which MATter matters in PATtern borrowing? The direction of case syncretisms. Morphology, 30 (4), 373-393. doi: 10.1007/s11525-020-09357-3

Which MATter matters in PATtern borrowing? The direction of case syncretisms

Featured

2020

Journal Article

Holding the mirror up to converted languages: two grammars, one lexicon

Meakins, Felicity and Pensalfini, Rob (2020). Holding the mirror up to converted languages: two grammars, one lexicon. International Journal of Bilingualism, 25 (2), 136700692092246-457. doi: 10.1177/1367006920922461

Holding the mirror up to converted languages: two grammars, one lexicon

Featured

2019

Journal Article

Birth of a contact language did not favor simplification

Meakins, Felicity, Hua, Xia , Algy, Cassandra and Bromham, Lindell (2019). Birth of a contact language did not favor simplification. Language, 95 (2), 294-332. doi: 10.1353/lan.2019.0032

Birth of a contact language did not favor simplification

Featured

2019

Book

Songs from the stations: Wajarra as performed by Ronnie Wavehill Wirrpnga, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal and Dandy Danbayarri, with additional verses by Patrick Smith, Jack Gordon and Marie Gordon

Turpin, Myfany and Meakins, Felicity (2019). Songs from the stations: Wajarra as performed by Ronnie Wavehill Wirrpnga, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal and Dandy Danbayarri, with additional verses by Patrick Smith, Jack Gordon and Marie Gordon. Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press.

Songs from the stations: Wajarra as performed by Ronnie Wavehill Wirrpnga, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal and Dandy Danbayarri, with additional verses by Patrick Smith, Jack Gordon and Marie Gordon

Featured

2018

Book

Understanding linguistic fieldwork

Meakins, Felicity, Green, Jennifer and Turpin, Myfany (2018). Understanding linguistic fieldwork. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203701294

Understanding linguistic fieldwork

Featured

2017

Journal Article

Possessor dissension: agreement mismatch in Ngumpin-Yapa possessive constructions

Meakins, Felicity and Nordlinger, Rachel (2017). Possessor dissension: agreement mismatch in Ngumpin-Yapa possessive constructions. Linguistic Typology, 21 (1), 143-188. doi: 10.1515/lingty-2017-0004

Possessor dissension: agreement mismatch in Ngumpin-Yapa possessive constructions

Featured

2016

Book

Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation

Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy eds. (2016). Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.

Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation

Featured

2016

Book

Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country

Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins eds. (2016). Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country

Featured

2012

Journal Article

Learning vowel categories from maternal speech in Gurindji Kriol

Jones, Caroline, Meakins, Felicity and Muawiyath, Shujau (2012). Learning vowel categories from maternal speech in Gurindji Kriol. Language Learning, 62 (4), 1052-1078. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00725.x

Learning vowel categories from maternal speech in Gurindji Kriol

Featured

2012

Journal Article

Comprehension of competing argument marking systems in two Australian mixed languages

O'Shannessy, Carmel and Meakins, Felicity (2012). Comprehension of competing argument marking systems in two Australian mixed languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15 (2), 378-396. doi: 10.1017/S1366728911000307

Comprehension of competing argument marking systems in two Australian mixed languages

Featured

2011

Book

Case-marking in contact: The development and function of case morphology in Gurindji Kriol

Meakins, Felicity (2011). Case-marking in contact: The development and function of case morphology in Gurindji Kriol. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Case-marking in contact: The development and function of case morphology in Gurindji Kriol

2024

Book

Bina: First Nations languages, old and new

Tudor, Gari, Williams, Paul and Meakins, Felicity (2024). Bina: First Nations languages, old and new. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Black Inc.

Bina: First Nations languages, old and new

2024

Journal Article

WordSpinner: Developing a tool to convert plain-text lexicon files into dictionary webpages

Jones, Caroline, Tran, Jesse, Jorgensen, Eleanor, Hill, Romi, Ellis, Patricia, Simpson, Jane, Meakins, Felicity, Ben Foley, , Reverter-Rambaldi, Marcel, Tudor-Smith, Gari, Williams, Paul, Hill, Clair and Richards, Mark (2024). WordSpinner: Developing a tool to convert plain-text lexicon files into dictionary webpages. Language Documentation & Conservation, 18, 109-131.

WordSpinner: Developing a tool to convert plain-text lexicon files into dictionary webpages

2023

Journal Article

The third space in the fourth column: revisiting the role of agency in the formation of Creoles

Meakins, Felicity (2023). The third space in the fourth column: revisiting the role of agency in the formation of Creoles. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 38 (2), 431-445. doi: 10.1075/jpcl.00117.mea

The third space in the fourth column: revisiting the role of agency in the formation of Creoles

2023

Other Outputs

Tamarra: a story of termites on Gurindji Country

Wadrill, Violet, Dodd Ngarnjal, Topsy, Leaman, Leah, Algy, Cassandra, Edwards, Cecelia, Meakins, Felicity, Barr, Briony and Crocetti, Gregory (2023). Tamarra: a story of termites on Gurindji Country. Sydney, Australia: Hardie Grant Publishing.

Tamarra: a story of termites on Gurindji Country

2023

Journal Article

What have we missed? : Theorising about Creoles in the absence of Melanesia and Australia

Meakins, Felicity (2023). What have we missed? : Theorising about Creoles in the absence of Melanesia and Australia. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 38 (1), 170-187. doi: 10.1075/jpcl.00109.mea

What have we missed? : Theorising about Creoles in the absence of Melanesia and Australia

2023

Journal Article

Quantifying the language dynamics of bilingual communities

Meakins, Felicity (2023). Quantifying the language dynamics of bilingual communities. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 13 (1), 76-82. doi: 10.1075/lab.22059.mea

Quantifying the language dynamics of bilingual communities

2023

Book Chapter

The land still speaks: supporting First Nations languages in Australia

Meakins, Felicity (2023). The land still speaks: supporting First Nations languages in Australia. The social future of Australia: the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. (pp. 30-33) edited by Kevin McConkey and Chris Hatherly. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

The land still speaks: supporting First Nations languages in Australia

2022

Book Chapter

Ngumpin-Yapa languages

Meakins, Felicity, Ennever, Thomas, Osgarby, David, Browne, Mitch and Hamilton-Hollaway, Amanda (2022). Ngumpin-Yapa languages. Oxford guide to Australian languages. (pp. xxx-xxx) edited by Claire Bowern. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198824978.003.0076

Ngumpin-Yapa languages

Funding

Past funding

  • 2023
    First Nations Digital Story-telling Project
    auDA Foundation Grants
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2022
    Human consciousness of magnetoreception
    Foundational Questions Institute
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    Something old, something new: Indigenous languages since colonisation
    ARC Future Fellowships
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Trilingual language contact in an Indigenous community
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2017
    Out of the Mouths of Babes: The Role of Indigenous Children in Language Change
    ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2014
    Agents of change: Children, Indigenous languages and English
    UQ Research Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2013
    Gurindji and Bilinarra Dictionaries and Multimedia Databases
    Indigenous Languages Support
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2013
    ResTeach Funding 2012 0.2 FTE School of LCCS
    UQ ResTeach
    Open grant
  • 2011
    ResTeach 2011 0.2 FTE School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies
    UQ ResTeach
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2012
    A Grammar of Bilinarra, an Endangered North Australian Indigenous Language
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2013
    Life after death: Exploring the birth of Gurindji Kriol, a new Aboriginal mixed language
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Professor Felicity Meakins is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Situating Saibai Language and Cultural archival material within a Cultural Framework

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Paradigm Shift: A Theoretical and Descriptive Study of Mudburra-Kriol Contact

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Agency of Gumbaynggirr Language as a living form of Indigenous Knowledge: Exploring the Relationships between Gumbaynggirr Community Members and Gumbaynggirr Language as a life positive force for the Well-Being of Language and Community.

    Principal Advisor

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Professor Felicity Meakins directly for media enquiries about:

  • Aboriginal languages
  • Language change

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au