Patricia Alice Shaw facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pat Shaw
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| Born |
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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| Nationality | Canadian |
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| Fields | Linguistics |
Patricia Alice Shaw, born in 1946, is a Canadian linguist. A linguist is a scientist who studies languages. She is well-known for her important work on First Nations languages in Canada.
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Early Life and Education
Patricia Shaw was born in Montreal, Quebec. When she was 12 years old, her family moved to Winnipeg. She went to the University of Manitoba and earned her first degree in English in 1967.
Later, she studied at the University of Toronto. She earned her Master's degree in Linguistics in 1973. In 1976, she completed her Ph.D. in Linguistics. Her Ph.D. research was about the sounds and word structures of the Dakota language.
Teaching and Research Career
Dr. Shaw began teaching at York University in 1976. In 1979, she moved to the University of British Columbia (UBC). She taught there for many years. Since June 30, 2020, she has been a Professor Emerita. This means she is a retired professor who still holds an honored title. She worked in the Department of Anthropology, focusing on Anthropological linguistics, which connects language with culture.
Dr. Shaw also helped start the First Nations and Endangered Languages Program at UBC. This program helps to study and preserve Indigenous languages.
Working with First Nations Languages
A big part of Dr. Shaw's work has been with hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓. This is a special dialect of Halkomelem spoken by the Musqueam people. She has done a lot of research on this language. She also helped create a partnership between the Musqueam Indian Band and UBC. This partnership supports the First Nations Languages Program.
Awards and Recognitions
Dr. Shaw has received many honors for her work. Here are some of them:
- She was the President of the Society for the Study of the Languages of the Americas (SSILA) from 2011 to 2013. This group studies Indigenous languages in North and South America.
- She has been part of important committees. These include the Endangered Languages Steering Committee of the Canadian Linguistic Association. She also served on the Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP).
- She has helped decide which research projects receive grants for Aboriginal studies.
- Dr. Shaw was an editor for the First Nations Languages Series at UBC Press. This series publishes books about Indigenous languages.
- She has taught at special language workshops. These include InField, CoLang, and the Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages. These workshops help people learn about and work with Indigenous languages.
- She served on the Board of Directors for the Endangered Languages Fund. This fund helps support languages that are at risk of disappearing.
Publications
Dr. Shaw has written many important books and articles about linguistics. Her work helps other linguists understand how languages are structured. She has published research on topics like how sounds are organized in words (phonology) and how words are formed (morphology).
