Michael Cahill, Ph.D.

Adjunct in Applied Linguistics
E-mail: Mike_Cahill@sil.org

 

Ohio State University

1999, Ph.D., Linguistics

University of Texas at Arlington

1985, M.A. in Linguistics

Iowa State University

1977, B.S. in Biochemistry

Professional Experience

 

Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, Dallas, TX
1999 - Present

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics
1999-Present: Field methods, phonetics, phonology

SIL International, Dallas, TX
1971 - Present

Administration
1999-present: International Linguistics Coordinator
Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (11 years)
  • Business manager (1 year)
  • Deputy director (1 year)
  • Linguistics Coordinator (3 years)
  • Associate Director for Language Projects (1 year)
  • Acting Director (3 months)
Linguistics
Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation
  • Working with the Koma language project in Ghana, with some literacy and translation work completed

High School (Newell, Iowa)

Teacher
5 years high school teaching (chemistry, physics, math)
President
1981-82: Newell-Providence Education Association

Professional Associations

 
Memberships
Linguistic Society of America
West African Linguistic Society
Reviewer
Journal of West African Linguistics
Phonology
Studies in African Linguistics
Africana Linguistica
Written Language and Literacy
Natural Language and Linguistic Theory
Journal of Historical Linguistics
Folia Linguistica
Diachronica

 

Monographs

2013Developing Orthographies for Unwritten Languages (ed.) to appear 2013
2007Aspects of the Morphology and Phonology of Konni. Dallas: SIL International.
1999Aspects of the Morphology and Phonology of Konni. Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University.
1992A Preliminary Phonology of the Konni Language. Collected Field Notes Series No. 20. The Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.

Journals

2011(with Keith Benn). Overliteralness and Mother Tongue Translators. Journal of Translation 7.1:49-61. http://www.sil.org/siljot/2011/1/928474543393/siljot2011-1-03.pdf
2008Why labial-velar stops merge to g͡b. Phonology 25.3: 379-398
2004Tonal Polarity in Konni Nouns, Studies in African Linguistics 33.1:1-33
2000-2001Noun Classes and Phonology in Konni. JWAL XXVII.1:49-69
1999Aspects of the phonology of labial-velar stops. Studies in African Languages 28.2: 155-184.
1999Diphthongization in Konni: A Feature Geometry Account. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 20:21-39.
1992The Case of the Missing Konni 'P'. Journal of West African Languages XXI, 1:15-24.
Conference proceedings
2012Polar Question Intonation in Kɔnni. In Selected Proceedings of the 42Nd Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ed. Michael R. Marlo, Nikki B. Adams, Christopher R. Green, Michelle Morrison, and Tristan M. Purvis, 90-98. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. http://www.lingref.com/cpp/acal/42/index.html, document #2761
2009Konni Vowel Feature Spread across Consonants. In Selected Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ed. Masangu Matondo, Fiona McLaughlin, and Eric Potsdam, 17-25. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. www.lingref.com2004. Tonal Polarity in Konni. In Chege Githiora, Heather Littlefield, and Victor Manfredi (eds.), Trends in African Linguistics 6: Selected Papers from the 31st Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc. pp. 53-62.
2006Perception of Yoruba Word-Initial [g͡b] and [b]. In Selected Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Olaoba F. Arasanyin and Michael A. Pemberton, eds., 37-41. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. www.lingref.com , document #1404. Or more alternatively and directly, http://www.lingref.com/cpp/acal/36/abstract1404.html
2006Tone dissimilation or tone polarity? Gur Papers/Cahiers Voltaïques No 7: 5-15.
2004Marked Tones and Texture – The Necessity of High Tones in Konni. In Akinlabi, Akinbiyi and Oluseye Adesola (eds.), Proceedings of the 4th World Congress of African Linguistics: New Brunswick 2003. Cologne, Germany: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 97-106.
2003The phonology of /r/ in Konni. Gur Papers/Cahiers Voltaïques 6: 33-42.
2000Phonology of Konni Verbs.  Gur Papers/Cahiers Voltaïques 5: 31-38.
1999Vowel Harmony in Konni. In Paul Kotey (ed.) New Dimensions in African Linguistics and Languages. Trends in African Linguistics 3, pp. 55-74. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc.
1998Nasal Assimilation and Labial-Velar Geometry. In Maddieson, Ian, and Thomas J. Hinnebusch (eds.) Language History and Linguistic Description in Africa. Trends in African Linguistics 2, pp. 127-136. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc.
1997The phonology of labio-velar stops. Gur Papers/Cahiers Voltaïques No. 2: 69-80.
1997with Frederick Parkinson. Partial Class Behavior and Feature Geometry: Remarks on Feature Class Theory. Proceedings of NELS 27.
1995Peaking at Zero: Null Anaphora and other Indicators of Peak in Konni. In Akinbiyi, Akinlabi (ed.), Theoretical Approaches to African Linguistics. Trends in African Linguistics 1. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc. pp. 345-357.
Working Papers and Notes on … Series
2011Tonal Diversity in Languages of Papua New Guinea. SIL Electronic Working Papers 2011-008. http://www.sil.org/silewp/2011/silewp2011-008.pdf.
2008Factors in designing effective orthographies for unwritten languages, with Elke Karan. SIL-EWP 2Cahill008-001. http://www.sil.org/silewp/abstract.asp?ref=2008-001
2007More Universals of Tone. SIL Electronic Working Papers 2007-007. (http://www.sil.org/silewp/abstract.asp?ref=2007-007).
2001Linguistics and Translation: Crucial Partners. Notes on Translation 15.3: 38-50.
2001Avoiding Tone Marks: A Remnant of English Education? Notes on Literacy 27(1):13-21.
2000From Endangered to Less Endangered: Case Histories from Brazil and Papua New Guinea. Notes on Sociolinguistics 5.1:23-34.
2000Positional Contrast and Labial-Velars. OSU Working Papers in Linguistics 53: 71-92.
2000Tonal Associative Morphemes in Optimality Theory. OSU Working Papers in Linguistics 53: 31-70.
1999From Endangered to Less Endangered: Case Histories from Brazil and Papua New Guinea. SIL Electronic Working Papers. www.sil.org/silewp/1999/006/
1999“Unruly Phonology”: An Introduction to Optimality Theory. Notes on Linguistics 2.2:5-20.
1999Triple Splits from Proto-Buli-Konni. OSU Working Papers in Linguistics 52: Historical Linguistics, pp. 41-50.
1998Tonal Polarity in Konni Nouns: An Optimal Theoretical Account. OSU Working Papers in Linguistics 51: 19-58.
1997Perception of Consonant Clusters and Variable Gap Time. OSU Working Papers in Linguistics 50: Papers from the Linguistics Laboratory, pp. 1-10.
1996ATR Harmony in Konni. Papers in Phonology: OSU Working Papers in Linguistics 48:13-30.
1994Diphthongization and Underspecification in Konni. UTA Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 1:109-126.
1992A Few Practical Tips for Using CECIL. Notes on Linguistics 59: 11-16.
Reviews
2013Review of Cairns, Charles  E., and Eric Raimy (eds.). 2011. Handbook of the Syllable. Brill’s Handbooks in Linguistics 1. Leiden: Brill. To appear in SIL Electronic Book Reviews.
2012Review of Dimmendal, Gerrit J. 2011. Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Studies in Language 36:4, 907-914.
2012Review of David Bellos. 2011. Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything. New York, NY, Faber and Faber. E-Language, May 2012, http://elanguage.net/blogs/booknotices/?p=2133.
2012Review of David Bellos. 2011. Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything. New York, NY, Faber and Faber. SIL’s Electronic Book Reviews 2012-009 http://www.sil.org:8090/silebr/2012/silebr2012-008.
2011Review of Mark Hale and Charles Reiss (2008), The Phonological Enterprise
Oxford University Press. In Linguist List:  http://linguistlist.org/issues/22/22-2895.html.
2010Book notice of Clara Ikekeonwu. 2007. The Phonetics of Nigerian Languages. LINCOM Language Research 05. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa. In e-Language, posted July 18, 2010, at http://elanguage.net/blogs/booknotices/?p=740.
2008Book notice of Ross Jones. (2004). Boko Dictionary, LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD/Dictionaries 24. Muenchen: Lincom Europa, Bokobaru Dictionary, LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD/Dictionaries 30. Muenchen: Lincom Europa, Busa Dictionary, LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD/Dictionaries 31. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. In e-Language February 2008 http://elanguage.net/blogs/booknotices/?m=200802 .
2008Review of Sharon Inkelas and Cheryl Zoll. 2005. Reduplication: Doubling in Morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. In SIL Electronic Book Reviews 2008-001. http://www.sil.org:8090/silebr/2008/silebr2008-001
2007Review of Paul DeLacey. 2007. The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. In SIL Electronic Book Reviews 2007-009. http://www.sil.org/lglearning/Links.htm.
2005Review of Hubert Devonish. 2002. Talking rhythm stressing tone: The role of prominence in Anglo-West African creole languages. Kingston, Jamaica: Arawak Publications. In Journal of Pidgins and Creoles 20.2: 378-382.
2005Review of Herman Batibo. 2005. Language Decline and Death in Africa: Causes, Consequences, and Challenges. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, Ltd. In LinguistList. http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-3542.html.
2005Review of Hubert Devonish. 2002. Talking rhythm stressing tone: The role of prominence in Anglo-West African creole languages. Kingston, Jamaica: Arawak Publications. In Journal of Pidgins and Creoles 20.2: 378-382.
2005Book Notice of Jeroen van de Weijer, Vincent J van Heuven, and Harry van der Hulst (eds.). The Phonological Spectrum. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Co, 2003. Language 81:1028-1030.
2005Review of van Oostendorp, Marc, and  Jeroen  van de Weijer (eds.). The Internal Organization of Phonological Segments.  Studies in Generative Grammar 77. 2005. Mouton de Gruyter. In LinguistList http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-2680.html
2005Review of John T. Jensen. Principles of Generative Phonology. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 2004. In LinguistList http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-1258.html
2005Review of Mark Abley. 2003. Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. In International Bulletin of Missionary Research 29.1: 46
2004Book Notice of Jie Zhang. 2002. The Effects of Duration and Sonority on Contour Tone Distribution: A Typological Survey and Formal Analysis. Routledge Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics Series. New York, NY: Routledge. Language 80: 905-906.
2004Book Notice of Kevin Bretonnel Cohen. 2000. Aspects of the Grammar of Kukú. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. Language 80.2: 340.
2004Book Notice of Ethelbert E. Kari. 2000. Ogbronuagum (The Bukuma Language). Muenchen: Lincom Europa. Language 80.2: 348.
2004Book Notice of Claire Bowern and Victoria Lotridge (eds.). 2002. Ndebele. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. Language 80.2: 338.
2003Review of Janse, Mark and Sijmen Tol, eds. Language Death and Language Maintenance: Theoretical, practical , and descriptive approaches. LinguistList website [http://linguistlist.org/issues/14/14-1892.html]
2002Review of Hall, T. Alan, ed. (2001). Distinctive Feature Theory. Mouton de Gruyter. LinguistList website [http://linguistlist.org/issues/13/13-1669.html]
2001Review of MacEachern, Margaret R. (1999). Laryngeal Cooccurrence Restrictions. Garland Press. LinguistList website [http://linguistlist.org/issues/12/12-2990.html]
1999Review of Bodomo, Adams. The Structure of Dagaare. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications. In Notes on Linguistics 2.2:28-32.
1997Review of Ka, Omar. Wolof Phonology and Morphology. 1994. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. In WORD 48.1: 78-81.
1997Review of Connell, Bruce, and Amalia Arvanti (eds.). Phonology and Phonetic Evidence: Papers in Laboratory Phonology IV Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. In Notes on Linguistics 76: 30-33.
1994Review of van der Hulst, Harry and Keith Snider (eds.) 1993. The Phonology of Tone: The representation of tonal register. Notes on Linguistics 66, pp. 33-45.
1992Review of Joseph, Brian, and Arnold Zwicky (eds.) 1990. When Verbs Collide: Papers from the 1990 Ohio State Mini-Conference on Serial Verbs. OSU Working Papers in Linguistics No. 39. In Notes on Linguistics 58:54-58.