Felicity Meakins

{{Short description|Australian linguist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = Felicity Meakins | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date =  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | nationality =  | citizenship =  | other_names = | occupation = | period = | known_for = | title = Professor | boards =  | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = {{Plainlist| * Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) * Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA) * Kenneth L. Hale Award}} | website = [https://languages-cultures.uq.edu.au/profile/971/felicity-meakins University of Queensland webpage] | education = | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * University of Queensland {{Small|(BA, MA)}} * University of Melbourne {{Small|(PhD)}} }} | thesis_title = The development and function of case morphology in Gurindji Kriol, an Australian mixed language | thesis_url = https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_383267/component/file_383266/content | thesis_year = 2008 | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = Rachel Nordlinger | academic_advisors = | influences =  | era = | discipline = Linguistics | sub_discipline = Australian Aboriginal languages, language revitalization, language documentation | workplaces = University of Queensland | doctoral_students =  | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }}

'''Felicity Meakins''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|FASSA|FAHA}} is a linguist specialising in Australian Indigenous languages, morphology and language contact, who was one of the first academics to describe Gurindji Kriol. As of 2022, she is a professor at the University of Queensland and Deputy Director of the University of Queensland node of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. She holds an ARC Future Fellowship<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2017/06/uq-welcomes-14-new-arc-future-fellows|title=UQ welcomes 14 new ARC Future Fellows|work=UQ News|access-date=2018-01-19|language=en|date=2017-06-05}}</ref> focusing on language evolution and contact processes across northern Australia.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://languages-cultures.uq.edu.au/article/2017/06/arc-future-fellowship-linguistics|title=ARC Future Fellowship in Linguistics|date=16 June 2017|work=School of Languages and Cultures|access-date=2017-07-19|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au/news-and-media/latest-headlines/article/?id=future-fellowship-awarded-to-felicity-meakins|title=Future Fellowship awarded to Felicity Meakins – Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language|website=www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au|language=en|access-date=2017-07-19}}</ref>

== Education and career == Meakins received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Arts at the University of Queensland. She completed her master's thesis, ''Lashings of Tongue: A Relevance Theoretic Account of Impoliteness'', in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43466210|title=Lashings of Tongue: A Relevance Theoretic Account of Impoliteness|last=Meakins|first=Felicity|date=2001|website=Researchgate.net}}</ref> Meakins earned her Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in 2008 for her work with the Aboriginal Child Language Project.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://arts.unimelb.edu.au/soll/research/past-research-projects/acla1#people|title=Aboriginal Child Language Acquisition Project (ACLA1) — School of Languages and Linguistics {{!}} Faculty of Arts|date=2016-10-04|website=Faculty of Arts|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-21}}</ref> Rachel Nordlinger was main supervisor for Meakins' dissertation, ''Case-marking in contact: the development and function of case morphology in Gurindji Kriol, an Australian mixed language.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/39332/67569_Mekins.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Case-marking in contact: the development and function of case morphology in Gurindji Kriol, an Australian mixed language|last=Meakins|first=Felicity|date=16 January 2008|website=University of Melbourne, University Library}}</ref>

A Professor at The University of Queensland, Australia,<ref name=":0" /> Mekins also serves as a chief investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (CoEDL).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au/team/chief-investigators/|title=Chief Investigators – Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language|website=www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au|language=en|access-date=2017-07-19}}</ref>

Meakins and Patrick McConvell were the first linguists to describe Gurindji Kriol, a mixed language which emerged in the Kalkarindji community of northern Australia post-1970s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=McConvell|first1=Patrick|last2=Meakins|first2=Felicity|date=2005-04-01|title=Gurindji Kriol: A Mixed Language Emerges from Code-switching|journal=Australian Journal of Linguistics|volume=25|issue=1|pages=9–30|doi=10.1080/07268600500110456|s2cid=62281541|issn=0726-8602}}</ref> She has performed fieldwork and facilitated language revitalisation work in this region since 2001<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/547|title=Dr Felicity Meakins - UQ Researchers|website=researchers.uq.edu.au|access-date=2017-07-19}}</ref> and published extensive documentation of languages in the Ngumpin-Yapa family, including a grammar of Bilinarra and dictionaries of Bilinarra and Gurindji.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=SdCI4tsAAAAJ&hl=en|title=Felicity Meakins - Google Scholar Citations|website=scholar.google.com.au|access-date=2017-07-19}}</ref>

Meakins has publicly advocated for greater awareness of Australian Indigenous languages,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theconversation.com/some-australian-indigenous-languages-you-should-know-40155|title=Some Australian Indigenous languages you should know|last=Meakins|first=Felicity|work=The Conversation|access-date=2017-07-19|language=en}}</ref> the benefits of bilingualism and bilingual education for Indigenous children,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://newsbytes.com.au/2012/05/100-aboriginal-languages-face-extinction/|title=100 Aboriginal languages face extinction : newsbytes|last=Alouat|first=Jim|date=9 May 2012|website=newsbytes.com.au|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-22|quote=Dr Meakins said the 2008 Northern Territory Government's decision to effectively end bilingual education flew in the face of all the research which clearly demonstrated the benefits of bilingualism for cognitive development.}}</ref> and Gurindji history.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-untold-story-behind-the-1966-wave-hill-walk-off-62890|title=Friday essay: the untold story behind the 1966 Wave Hill Walk-Off|last=Meakins|first=Felicity|work=The Conversation|access-date=2017-07-19|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au/news-and-media/latest-headlines/article/?id=felicity-meakins-article-in-the-conversation-19-aug-2016|title=Felicity Meakins' article in The Conversation, 19 Aug 2016 – Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language|website=www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au|language=en|access-date=2017-07-19}}</ref> She has published several articles in ''The Conversation''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/profiles/felicity-meakins-14173|title=Felicity Meakins|website=The Conversation|date=3 October 2012 |language=en|access-date=2017-07-19}}</ref> (one of which has been republished in German),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/article134054781/Australiens-Aborigines-erfinden-ganz-neue-Sprachen.html|title=Kiez-Australisch: Aborigines erfinden neue Sprachen|last=Meakins|first=Felicity|date=2014-11-06|work=DIE WELT|access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref> performed a TEDx talk<ref name="TEDx Talks">{{Citation|last=TEDx Talks|title=The monolingual mindset: Felicity Meakins at TEDxSouthBankWomen|date=2014-02-10|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISpQasr4He0|accessdate=2017-07-19}}</ref> and collaborated with Karungarni Arts and rangers from the Murnkurrumurnkurru Central Land Council. Her work chronicling Gurindji oral histories in particular attracted media attention around the fiftieth anniversary of the Wave Hill walk-off.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=49778|title=Truth beyond written records of the Wave Hill walk off|website=www.eurekastreet.com.au|date=22 August 2016 |access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blogs.crikey.com.au/fullysic/2016/10/19/yijarni-true-stories-gurindji-country-sad-marvellous-historical-canon/|title=Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country – a sad, marvellous historical canon - Fully (sic)|date=2016-10-19|work=Fully (sic)|access-date=2018-01-19|language=en-US|archive-date=19 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120153/https://blogs.crikey.com.au/fullysic/2016/10/19/yijarni-true-stories-gurindji-country-sad-marvellous-historical-canon/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-30/indigenous-elders-teach-new-generation-about-life-at-wave-hill/7283712|title=Indigenous elders keep traditional songs about life on Wave Hill station alive with new generation|date=2016-03-30|work=ABC News|access-date=2018-01-19|language=en-AU|last=James|first=Felicity}}</ref>

== Funding grants == Meakins received an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (2014–2017) and two ARC Discovery Projects awards (2009–2013 and 2015–2018).<ref name=":0" />

In June 2017 Meakins was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship,<ref name=":1" /> a four-year mid-career award of $896,163, to focus on language evolution and contact processes across northern Australia.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> The purpose of Future Fellowships is "to attract and retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arc.gov.au/future-fellowships|title=Future Fellowships|date=2014-02-27|website=www.arc.gov.au|publisher=Australian Government, Australian Research Council|language=en|access-date=2018-01-21}}</ref>

In 2025, she was awarded the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship by the Australian Research Council to further her research into Indigenous languages and how they describe ecological information.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2025-06-26 |title=$65.2 million to support 17 new Australian Laureate Fellows |url=https://www.arc.gov.au/news-publications/media/media-releases/652-million-support-17-new-australian-laureate-fellows |access-date=2025-09-24 |website=Australian Research Council}}</ref>

== Awards and recognition == In 2020 Meakins was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA)<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Academy Fellow: Associate Professor Felicity Meakins FASSA|url=https://socialsciences.org.au/academy-fellow/?sId=0032v00003JxrvZAAR|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-12-05|website=Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia|language=en-AU}}</ref> and in 2022, Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fellow Profile: Felicity Meakins |url=https://humanities.org.au/fellows/fellow-profile/?fellow_id=1168 |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Australian Academy of the Humanities |language=en-AU}}</ref>

The Kenneth L. Hale Award was awarded to Meakins in 2022, for her interdisciplinary work with Australian aboriginal communities in northern Australia, including helping with revitalization efforts.<ref name=KenHale>{{cite web|website=Linguistic Society of America|url=https://www.linguisticsociety.org/about/who-we-are/lsa-awards#hale|title=LSA honors and awards|access-date=11 March 2022}}</ref>

== Selected publications == Meakins has authored and edited more than fifty publications as of 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Felicity_Meakins|title=Felicity Meakins {{!}} The University of Queensland (UQ) {{!}} ResearchGate|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2018-01-23}}</ref>

=== Books === *''Introducing Linguistic Fieldwork''. Meakins, Felicity, Jennifer Green and Myfany Turpin. London: Routledge, 2018 *''Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation''. Edited by Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton, 2016. * ''Mayarni-kari Yurrk: More Stories from Gurindji Country''. Edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins Batchelor, NT, Australia: Batchelor Press, 2016. * ''Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country''. Edited by Erika Charola and Felicity Meakins Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2016. * ''Kawarla: how to make a coolamon''. Wadrill, Violet, Wavehill Yamawurr, Biddy and Meakins, Felicity. Batchelor, NT, Australia: Batchelor Press, 2015. * ''A grammar of Bilinarra: an Australian Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory''. Meakins, Felicity and Nordlinger, Rachel. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter, 2014. * ''Bilinarra to English dictionary''. Meakins, Felicity. Batchelor, NT, Australia: Batchelor Press, 2013. * ''Gurindji to English dictionary''. Meakins, Felicity, McConvell, Patrick, Charola, Erika, McNair, Norm, McNair, Helen and Campbell, Lauren. Batchelor, NT, Australia: Batchelor Press, 2013. * ''Bilinarra, Gurindji and Malngin plants and animals: Aboriginal knowledge of flora and fauna from Judbarra/Gregory National Park, Nijburru, Kalkarindji and Daguragu, Northern Australia''. Hector, Ivy Kulngari, Jungurra Kalabidi, George, Banjo, Spider, Nangari Ngarnjal Dodd, Topsy, Jangala Wirrba Wavehill, Ronnie, Danbayarri, Dandy, Nanaku Wadrill, Violet, Puntiyarri, Bernard, Bernard Malyik, Ida, Wavehill, Biddy, Morris, Helen, Campbell, Lauren, Meakins, Felicity and Wightmann, Glenn. Katherine, NT, Australia: Bilinarra, Gurindji and Malngin People; Department of Land Resource Management, 2012. * ''Case-marking in contact: The development and function of case morphology in Gurindji Kriol''. Meakins, Felicity. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011.

=== Other === * Meakins, Felicity (2014). Language contact varieties. In Harold Koch and Rachel Nordlinger (Ed.), ''The languages and linguistics of Australia: a comprehensive guide'' (pp. 365–416) Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton. doi:10.1515/9783110279771.365 * Meakins, Felicity (2013). [http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:305687 Mixed languages]. In Peter Bakker and Yaron Matras (Ed.), ''Contact languages: a comprehensive guide'' (pp. 159–228) Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton. * Meakins, Felicity (2011). [http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:229257 Borrowing contextual inflection: evidence from northern Australia]. ''Morphology'', ''21'' 1: 57-87. doi:10.1007/s11525-010-9163-4

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Official website|http://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/547}} *[https://uq.academia.edu/FelicityMeakins Academia:Felicity Meakins] – Downloadable publications by Meakins * [https://ngumpin.org.au/ ngumpin.org.au] – Online dictionaries and language resources compiled by Meakins * [https://www.bbc.com/storyworks/specials/unlocking-science/giving-new-life-to-old-languages-in-australia/ Unlocking Science: Giving new life to old languages in Australia] – BBC Storyworks *[https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2017/08/exhibition-explores-wave-hill-walk-through-gurindji-eyes Exhibition explores Wave Hill Walk-Off through Gurindji eyes] * [https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2016/06/northern-australia%E2%80%99s-new-languages-spotlight New Languages Spotlight] * [https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2015/06/talking-book-gives-new-voice-indigenous-languages Talking book gives new voice to indigenous languages] * [https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2013/08/bilingual-dictionary-preserves-gurindji-language Bilingual dictionary preserves Gurindji language] * [https://blogs.crikey.com.au/fullysic/2016/10/19/yijarni-true-stories-gurindji-country-sad-marvellous-historical-canon/ Yijarni: True Stories from Gurindji Country – a sad, marvellous historical canon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120153/https://blogs.crikey.com.au/fullysic/2016/10/19/yijarni-true-stories-gurindji-country-sad-marvellous-historical-canon/ |date=19 January 2018 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meakins, Felicity}} Category:Linguists from Australia Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Linguists of Australian Aboriginal languages Category:Australian women linguists Category:Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Category:University of Queensland alumni Category:University of Melbourne alumni