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
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Language documentation, including fieldwork methodology, annotation of corpus data and the structure of reference grammars
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Sociolinguistics, e.g. language ecologies, endangerment and shift, variationalist approaches
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Morphology, particularly morphology in contact
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Australian languages, including Gurindji, Gurindji Kriol, Bilinarra, Ngarinyman and Kriol
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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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Felicity Meakins is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Situating Saibai Language and Cultural archival material within a Cultural Framework
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg
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Doctor Philosophy
Paradigm Shift: A Theoretical and Descriptive Study of Mudburra-Kriol Contact
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini
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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
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
A Grammatical Description of Warlmanpa, a Ngumpin-Yapa Language Spoken around Tennant Creek (Northern Territory)
Principal Advisor
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
The French influence on the Middle English expression of possession
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Barbara Hanna
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2018
Master Philosophy
Nominal and pronominal morphology of Ngardi: A Ngumpin-Yapa language of Western Australia
Principal Advisor
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Developing useful and usable language technologies
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Janet Wiles
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2019
Master Philosophy
Verbal morphology and syntax of Mudburra: An Australian Aboriginal Language of the Northern Territory
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Rob Pensalfini
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Felicity Meakins directly for media enquiries about:
- Aboriginal languages
- Language change
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