Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Robert S. Belvin papers, 1989-1990
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Belvin, Robert S. (Robert Stallings), 1958-
- Title
- Robert S. Belvin papers
- Dates
- 1989-1990 (inclusive)19891990
- Quantity
- 0.19 cubic feet (1 box, including 3 audio cassettes)
- Collection Number
- 2696-069 (Accession No. 2696-069-01)
- Summary
- Field research reports and recordings related to linguistic research in Nisgha sentence structure by a Jacobs Research Funds grant recipient
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Access restricted: For terms of access, contact University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Audio cassettes are restricted. No user access copies are available and a user access copy cannot be made without permission from the donor. Contact Special Collections for more information.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Robert S. Belvin is a linguist who has extensive experience in a variety of areas, including mixed initiative dialogue systems, machine translation of spoken language, message understanding, syntactic and semantic parsing, knowledge representation, field linguistics, lexical and formal semantics, and formal syntax. Dr. Belvin has a BA from the University of Oregon, an MA from the University of British Columbia, and a PhD from the University of Southern California, all in linguistics.
Historical BackgroundReturn to Top
Nisga'a-Gitxsan is a Penutian language of the Pacific Northwest Coast, spoken by about 2000 people in the Nisga'a (or Nisgha) and Gitxsan (or Gitksan) tribes of British Columbia. Though the Nisga'a and the Gitxsan are culturally and politically distinct nations, their languages are no more different than American and Australian English, and speakers from the two tribes can communicate with little difficulty. Nisga'a and Gitxsan are consonant-rich, polysynthetic languages with verb-subject-object (VSO) word order. "Nisga'a" and "Gitxsan" are tribal names referring to the traditional territory of the two tribes-- each is the native name of a river that runs through their lands (simplified to "Nass River" and "Skeena River" by English-speaking Canadians.) (Source: “Gitxsan-Nisga'a (Nass-Gitksan),” Native Languages of the Americas. Web. Date Accessed: 03/27/2023)
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Final research report, field notes, tape recorded field research, table of contents for the tape recordings; 1989-1990. Linguistic research in Nisgha sentence structure. Elicitation and story narration sessions involved the following Nisgha language consultants: Bertha Azak, Dorothy Doolan, Pauline Grandison, Joshua Azak, Sam Haizimsque, Verna Williams, Rosie Robinson, Sarah Haizimsque, and Lucy Williams.
Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top
Forms part of the Jacobs Research Funds linguistic research collection.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | Table of Contents: Recordings of Nisgha Language Field Notes | |
1/2 | Field Notes Written transcriptions of tape recordings
|
|
Box | ||
1 | Elicitation sessions in Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada 1 audio cassette
Consultants: Bertha Azak, Dorothy Doolan; Written transcription in
fieldnotes. The sentences and phrases collected during these sessions mostly
involve possible coreference and binding between names and pronominal and
anaphoric elements.
|
August 24, 1989 - September 1, 1989 |
1 | Elicitation sessions in and around New Aiyansh, British
Columbia, Canada 1 audio cassette
Consultants: Pauline Grandison, Joshua Azak, Bertha Azak, Sam
Haizimsque, Verna Williams, Rosie Robinson, Sarah Haizimsque, Lucy Williams;
Written transcription in fieldnotes. The sentences and phrases collected during
these sessions involve reflexive sentences, questioning adverbial elements,
comparatives, pronominal possible coreference, complex sentences, conjoined
agents
|
August 1990 |
1 | Stories and Narration of Cartoon 1 audio cassette
(i) The Flooding of Old Aiyansh (Story) told by Sarah Haizimsque;
(ii) Andy Capp (Narration) narrated by Pauline Grandison; (iii) The Nisgha and
Gitksan (Story) told by Sam Haizimsque; (iv) Free translation of Psalm 23 and
the Lord's Prayer, translated by Sam Haizimsque
|
August 1990 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Belvin, Robert S. (Robert Stallings), 1958- (creator)
Corporate Names
- Jacobs Research Funds (creator)