Cree language exhibit on display
Every year the Canadian Language Museum sponsors a travelling exhibit to assist in their mandate to promote an appreciation of all the languages spoken in Canada and of their role in the development of the nation.
This year the exhibit will make its way to Memorial, coinciding with the annual Atlantic Provinces Linguistics Association meeting, being held at Memorial on Nov. 6 and 7.
The exhibit will focus on Cree, the most widely spoken Canadian Aboriginal language and will be on display in the atrium of the arts and administrative building from Nov. 6 to 13. Six colourful panels present maps, photos and information on topics including the syllabic writing system, word formation, animacy and the future of Cree. Audio clips of Cree dialects from across Canada are also available.
Memorial linguist Dr. Gerard Van Herk is the archivist of the association.
“It's great to be able to host linguists from all over eastern Canada, and to show off our facilities and students,” said Dr. van Herk. “We’re happy to be able to showcase the exhibit at this time because lots of linguists (here at Memorial and elsewhere) work on indigenous languages.”
According to Dr. Van Herk, a wide range of linguistics topics will be discussed at the conference – “everything from early Hawaiian Pidgin English documents to theoretical stuff like anaphora resolution in Telugu.”
More information on the conference can be found at www.ucs.mun.ca/~apla39/.