Dissertation Research Improvement Grants: Doctoral Dissertation Research: Menominee Metrical Structure

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Drs. Monica Macaulay and Thomas Purnell, Ms. Marianne Milligan will conduct fieldwork for her doctoral dissertation. She will work with the remaining speakers of Menominee, an endangered language spoken on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin. Her dissertation emphasizes the metrical structure of Menominee, in particular the placement of accent and the pattern of long and short vowels. The topic is theoretically interesting because Menominee's metrical rules are very unusual. These rules have received several different theoretical analyses, one of which is used as evidence against certain current trends in linguistic theory. However, all analyses of Menominee metrical structure are based on the published works of American linguist Leonard Bloomfield, and so inherit various problems his work contains. First, while his grammar is considered one of the most comprehensive descriptions of an Amerindian language, it was completed after his death by another linguist. It is thus contradictory in places. Second, because Bloomfield used a standardized spelling system rather than phonetic transcription, his work does not show variation in pronunciation. Theoretical claims about Menominee require more accurate description of the data. This project's data will also be used in pedagogical materials for the tribe's language preservation programs. All materials recorded on audiotape will be transferred to CD for archiving purposes, distribution to tribal organizations, and acoustic analysis. This research is significant in two ways. First, it will extend research on Menominee metrical structure by providing both an accurate description and a theoretical analysis of the Menominee data. Understanding the unusual metrical structure of Menominee will not only add to our general understanding of human language, but the issues raised by these data may also affect current debates within linguistic theory. Second, the language teaching materials that this project will contribute to producing, such as tapes of stories with accompanying text, tapes of vocabulary items, and grammatical lessons, will be used in the tribe's efforts to retain the language and culture in the schools on their reservation.