here - Linguistic Society of America

Presidential AddressGrand Ballroom Salons G-KSaturday, 5 January, 6:00 7:00 PMVariation, Phonology, and FieldworkKeren RiceUniversity of TorontoThis talk comes in three major sections, linking together the consequences of phonological variation in a language for ofphonological theory, the practical consequences of understanding variation for orthography development, and lessons fromvariation for fieldwork generally.In the first section, I summarize the types of phonological variation that are reported in languages based on a survey of grammarsand address the implications of this variation for phonological models. I examine the characteristics that are required of aphonological model in order to account for the variation. In particular, I argue that a model of phonology that builds inventoriesPthrough a set of choices offers insight into parts of the phonology where variability, both cross-linguistic and language internal, ispotentially available. In general, variation is possible under certain phonological conditions, namely in the absence of contrast.The phonology constrains a possible realization, the actual implementation is due to external factors, including phonetic, social,and historical factors. The indeterminacy that is found under conditions of variation is a probe for phonological representations.In the second section, I examine one implications of variation, focusing on choices of orthography and spelling. I argue that adecision to abstract away from variation in spelling has the potential to create extra burdens for the writer and can bring about theloss of information about individual speakers, information that may be valued by members of a community.In the final section, I discuss what might be considered to be responsible fieldwork and language description with respect tovariation in terms of responsibility to both theory and community.Keren Rice is a professor of linguistics and former Director of Aboriginal Studies and the Centre for Aboriginal Initiatives at theUniversity of Toronto. She completed her Ph.D. in 1976 and has taught at the University of Toronto since 1984. She was namedthe Canada Research Chair in Linguistics and Aboriginal Studies in 2003. She has spent the last four decades studying the Slavey(Dene) language of Canadas Northwest Territory. Her contribution includes a dictionary of one dialect as well as a grammar ofthe language that has served as a model for grammars of many other languages. Through this work, shewasamemberofacommittee that worked to standardize the writing system of the language. In addition to contributing to the field of Athabaskanlinguistics, she has also published in the areas of phonology and morphology. She was awarded the Bloomfield Book Award fromthe LSA in 1990 for A Grammar of Slavey. She received the Killam Prize in 2011 and the Molson Prize in 2012. She is editor ofthe International Journal of American Linguistics. She served as president of the Canadian Linguistics Association from 1998 to2002 and was elected a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science in 2005 and as an LSA fellow in 2009.84