OR

Browse By

Professor Felicity Meakins

Professor

School of Languages and Cultures
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
f.meakins@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 53114

Overview

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.

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.

Qualifications

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

Publications

View all Publications

Grants

View all Grants

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Featured Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Ergativity

    Dunn, Vivien and Meakins, Felicity (2022). Ergativity. Oxford guide to Australian languages. (pp. 217-225) edited by Claire Bowern. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

  • 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.

  • Mixed languages

    Meakins, Felicity and Stewart, Jesse (2022). Mixed languages. Cambridge handbook of language contact. (pp. xxx-xxx) edited by Saliko Mufwene and Anna María Escobar. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

  • Wavehill, Ronnie (1936–2000)

    Dandy, Kira, Dandy, Jezebel and Meakins, Felicity (2022). Wavehill, Ronnie (1936–2000). Indigenous Australian dictionary of biography. (pp. xxx-xxx) Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANU.

  • Acquisition or shift: Interpreting variation in Gurindji children’s expression of spatial relations

    Dunn, Vivien, Meakins, Felicity and Algy, Cassandra (2021). Acquisition or shift: Interpreting variation in Gurindji children’s expression of spatial relations. Variation Rolls the Dice. (pp. 105-131) edited by Aboh, Enoch and Vigouroux, Cécile. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/coll.59.05dun

  • Advances in mixed language phonology: an overview of three case studies

    Stewart, Jesse and Meakins, Felicity (2021). Advances in mixed language phonology: an overview of three case studies. New perspectives on mixed languages: from core to fringe. (pp. 57-92) edited by Maria Mazzoli and Eeva Sippola. Boston, United States: De Gruyter Mouton. doi: 10.1515/9781501511257-003

  • Overabundance resulting from language contact: Complex cell-mates in Gurindji Kriol

    Meakins, Felicity and Wilmoth, Sasha (2020). Overabundance resulting from language contact: Complex cell-mates in Gurindji Kriol. The complexities of morphology. (pp. 81-104) edited by Arkadiev, Peter and Gardani, Francesco. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198861287.003.0004

  • Typological factors

    Meakins, Felicity (2020). Typological factors. The Routledge Handbook of Language Contact. (pp. 185-200) edited by Adamou, Evangelia and Matras, Yaron. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

  • Australia and the south west Pacific

    Meakins, Felicity (2020). Australia and the south west Pacific. Handbook of Pidgin and Creole languages. (pp. 88-105) edited by Meyerhoff, Miriam and Ansaldo, Umberto. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

  • For the children...”: Aboriginal Australia, cultural access, and archival obligation

    Croft, Brenda, Toussaint, Sandy, Meakins, Felicity and McConvell, Patrick (2019). For the children...”: Aboriginal Australia, cultural access, and archival obligation. Archival returns: Central Australia and beyond. (pp. 173-191) edited by Barwick, Linda, Green, Jennifer and Vaarzon-Morel, Petronella. Sydney, NSW Australia: Sydney University Press.

  • Morphology

    Meakins, Felicity (2019). Morphology. Language contact: an international handbook. (pp. 63-75) edited by Jeroen Darquennes, Joe Salmons and Wim Vandenbussche. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110435351-006

  • Prominent possessor indexing in Gurindji

    Bond, Oliver, Meakins, Felicity and Nordlinger, Rachel (2019). Prominent possessor indexing in Gurindji. Prominent internal possessors. (pp. 80-106) edited by András Bárány, Oliver Bond and Irina Nikolaeva. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198812142.003.0003

  • Dis, that and da other: variation in Aboriginal children's article and demonstrative use at school

    Fraser, Henry, Mushin, Ilana, Meakins, Felicity and Gardner, Rod (2018). Dis, that and da other: variation in Aboriginal children's article and demonstrative use at school. Language practices of Indigenous children and youth: the transition from home to school. (pp. 237-269) edited by Gillian Wigglesworth, Jane Simpson and Jill Vaughan. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-60120-9_10

  • Mixed languages

    Meakins, Felicity (2018). Mixed languages. Oxford research encyclopedias: Literature. (pp. 1-29) edited by Mark Aronoff. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.151

  • The carbines were talking English: violence and language in the colonisation of Gurindji country

    Meakins, Felicity (2017). The carbines were talking English: violence and language in the colonisation of Gurindji country. Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality. (pp. 73-75) edited by Brenda L. Croft, Penny Smith and Felicity Meakins. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: UQ Art Museum.

  • Australian language contact in historical and synchronic perspective

    O'Shannessy, Carmel and Meakins, Felicity (2016). Australian language contact in historical and synchronic perspective. Loss and renewal: Australian languages since colonisation. (pp. 3-26) edited by Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.

  • Background to the removal of children

    Meakins, Felicity (2016). Background to the removal of children. Yijarni: true stories from Gurindji country. (pp. 135-136) edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • Conditions under the Vesteys

    Meakins, Felicity (2016). Conditions under the Vesteys. Yijarni: true stories from Gurindji country. (pp. 182-186) edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • European accounts of the flood and its consequences

    Meakins, Felicity and Charola, Erika (2016). European accounts of the flood and its consequences. Yijarni: true stories from Gurindji country. (pp. 112-114) edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • European and further accounts of the early murders

    Meakins, Felicity and Charola, Erika (2016). European and further accounts of the early murders. Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country. (pp. 80-83) edited by Erika Beatriz Charola and Felicity Helen Meakins. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • Gender bender: Disagreement in Jingulu noun class marking

    Meakins, Felicity and Pensalfini, Rob (2016). Gender bender: Disagreement in Jingulu noun class marking. Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation. (pp. 425-450) edited by Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.

  • Introduction

    Meakins, Felicity and Charola, Erika (2016). Introduction. Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country. (pp. 1-4) edited by Erika Beatriz Charola and Felicity Helen Meakins. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • No fixed address: The grammaticalisation of the Gurindji locative as a progressive suffix

    Meakins, Felicity (2016). No fixed address: The grammaticalisation of the Gurindji locative as a progressive suffix. Loss and renewal: Australian languages since colonisation. (pp. 367-396) edited by Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.

  • Official and newspaper accounts of Wave Hill in early air searches

    Charola, Erika and Meakins, Felicity (2016). Official and newspaper accounts of Wave Hill in early air searches. Yijarni: true stories from Gurindji country. (pp. 144-145) edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • Other accounts of settlement characters

    Meakins, Felicity and Charola, Erika (2016). Other accounts of settlement characters. Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country. (pp. 194-196) edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • Other reported accounts of conflict

    Charola, Erika and Meakins, Felicity (2016). Other reported accounts of conflict. Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country. (pp. 67-72) edited by Erika Beatriz Charola and Felicity Helen Meakins. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • Police reports of Gordon Stott

    Meakins, Felicity (2016). Police reports of Gordon Stott. Yijarni: true stories from Gurindji country. (pp. 228-229) edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

  • From absolutely optional to only nominally ergative: the life cycle of the Gurindji ergative suffix

    Meakins, Felicity (2015). From absolutely optional to only nominally ergative: the life cycle of the Gurindji ergative suffix. Borrowed morphology. (pp. 189-218) edited by Francesco Gardani, Peter Arkadiev and Nino Amiridze. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9781614513209.189

  • Language contact varieties

    Meakins, Felicity (2014). Language contact varieties. The languages and linguistics of Australia: a comprehensive guide. (pp. 365-416) edited by Harold Koch and Rachel Nordlinger. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton. doi: 10.1515/9783110279771.365

  • Nominals as arguments or adjuncts: further evidence from language mixing

    Meakins, Felicity (2014). Nominals as arguments or adjuncts: further evidence from language mixing. Language description informed by theory. (pp. 283-315) edited by Rob Pensalfini, Myfany Turpin and Diana Guillemin. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing. doi: 10.1075/slcs.147.12mea

  • Gurindji Kriol

    Meakins, Felicity (2013). Gurindji Kriol. Contact languages based on languages from Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. (pp. 131-139) edited by Susanne Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

  • Kriol

    Schultze-Berndt, Eva, Meakins, Felicity and Angelo, Denise (2013). Kriol. English-Based and Dutch-Based Languages. (pp. 241-251) edited by Susanne Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

  • Mixed languages

    Meakins, Felicity (2013). Mixed languages. Contact languages: a comprehensive guide. (pp. 159-228) edited by Peter Bakker and Yaron Matras. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.

  • The importance of understanding language ecologies for revitalisation

    Meakins, Felicity (2010). The importance of understanding language ecologies for revitalisation. Reawakening languages: Theory and practice in the revitalisation of Australia's Indigenous languages. (pp. 225-239) edited by John Hobson, Kevin Lowe, Susan Poetsch and Michael Walsh. Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press.

  • The case of the shifty ergative marker: A pragmatic shift in the ergative marker in one Australian mixed language

    Meakins, Felicity (2009). The case of the shifty ergative marker: A pragmatic shift in the ergative marker in one Australian mixed language. The Role of Semantic, Pragmatic, and Discourse Factors in the Development of Case. (pp. 59-91) edited by J. Barddal and S. Chelliah. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.

  • Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol

    Meakins, Felicity (2008). Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol. Social lives in language - sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities : celebrating the work of Gillian Sankoff. (pp. 69-94) edited by Miriam Meyerhoff and Naomi Nagy. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.

  • Unravelling languages: Multilingualism and language contact in Kalkaringi

    Meakins, Felicity (2008). Unravelling languages: Multilingualism and language contact in Kalkaringi. Children's language and multilingualism: Indigenous language use at home and school. (pp. 283-302) edited by Jane Simpson and Gillian Wigglesworth. London, U.K.: Continuum.

Journal Article

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • 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.

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Situating Saibai Language and Cultural archival material within a Cultural Framework

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Developing useful and usable language technologies

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

Language change, Aboriginal languages

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

Links

ORCID: 0000-0003-4487-4351

Personal Profile: Link

Unit Links
Other Media
Social Media

Related Resources

Similar Staff
Researchers in Associated Units
Fields of Research