{{short description|American linguist}} {{Infobox academic | name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|06|20}} | birth_place = [[Evergreen Park, Illinois|Evergreen Park]], Illinois | occupation = Linguist, full professor | discipline = Linguistics | workplaces = University of Southern Maine | notable_works = Nicaraguan sign language | alma_mater = [[Brown University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])<br>[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]]) }}
'''Judy Shepard-Kegl''' (born June 20, 1953) is an American linguist and [[University of Southern Maine]] professor, best known for research on the [[Nicaraguan Sign Language|Nicaraguan sign language]].
== Education == Kegl received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] with a major in [[anthropology]] and a [[Master of Arts]] in [[linguistics]] both in 1975 from [[Brown University]]. They received a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] in [[linguistics]] from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in 1985.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Judy Kegl {{!}} University of Southern Maine - Academia.edu |url=https://maine.academia.edu/JudyKegl/CurriculumVitae |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=maine.academia.edu |archive-date=2023-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203022747/https://maine.academia.edu/JudyKegl/CurriculumVitae |url-status=live }}</ref>
Their master's thesis was entitled "Some Observations on Bilingualism: A Look at Data from Slovene-English Bilinguals." Their doctoral dissertation was entitled "Locative Relations in [[American Sign Language]] Word Formation, Syntax and Discourse".<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Alumni and their Dissertations – MIT Linguistics |url=https://linguistics.mit.edu/alumni/#1985 |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=linguistics.mit.edu |language=en-US |archive-date=2019-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329145429/http://linguistics.mit.edu/alumni/#1985 |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Career == Shepard-Kegl is currently a tenured professor of Linguistics and coordinator of the ASL/English Interpreting Program at the [[University of Southern Maine]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Judy Shepard-Kegl Ph.D., NIC-M, SC:L, ED:K-12 {{!}} Department of Linguistics {{!}} University of Southern Maine |url=https://usm.maine.edu/linguistics/judy-shepard-kegl |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=usm.maine.edu |archive-date=2022-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526070254/https://usm.maine.edu/linguistics/judy-shepard-kegl |url-status=live }}</ref>
They have worked and written extensively within their field and are best known for their work and multiple academic publishings on the [[Nicaraguan Sign Language]] (or ISN, ''Idioma de Señas de Nicaragua'' or ''Idioma de Signos Nicaragüense''), a sign language spontaneously developed by [[deaf]] children in a number of schools in western [[Nicaragua]] in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Judy Kegl |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pZ9ZkLwAAAAJ&hl=en |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=scholar.google.com |archive-date=2022-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311230043/https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pZ9ZkLwAAAAJ&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The origin of Nicaraguan Sign Language tells us a lot about language creation |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2020-09-29/origin-nicaraguan-sign-language-tells-us-lot-about-language-creation |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=The World from PRX |language=en |archive-date=2022-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311230041/https://theworld.org/stories/2020-09-29/origin-nicaraguan-sign-language-tells-us-lot-about-language-creation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jennie Yang '20 Interviews Judy Kegl about the Birth of a Language in Nicaragua — Linguistics |url=https://linguistics.princeton.edu/2017/10/09/jennie-yang-20-interviews-judy-kegl-about-nicaragua-and-the-birth-of-a-language/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=linguistics.princeton.edu |archive-date=2023-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203022747/https://linguistics.princeton.edu/2017/10/09/jennie-yang-20-interviews-judy-kegl-about-nicaragua-and-the-birth-of-a-language/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=Kelley BouchardStaff |title=Seeing the signs: Renowned USM professor reflects on life-changing language discovery |date=19 March 2018 |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2018/03/19/seeing-the-signs-renowned-usm-professor-reflects-on-life-changing-language-discovery/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |archive-date=2018-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319103400/https://www.pressherald.com/2018/03/19/seeing-the-signs-renowned-usm-professor-reflects-on-life-changing-language-discovery/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Selected publications == * Carol Neidle, Judy Kegl, Dawn MacLaughlin, Benjamin Bahan and Robert G. Lee. 1999. The syntax of American Sign Language. The MIT Press. ISBN {{ISBN|9780262140676}} * J Kegl, A Senghas, M Coppola. 1999. Creation through contact: Sign language emergence and sign language change in Nicaragua. In: Language Creation and Language Change, ed. by Michael de Graff. The MIT Press. {{ISBN|9780262041683}} * Gary Morgan, Judy Kegl. 2006. Nicaraguan Sign Language and Theory of Mind: the issue of critical periods and abilities. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47: 811-819. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01621.x
== References == <references />
==External links== * [https://usm.maine.edu/linguistics/judy-shepard-kegl Comprehensive Kegl background] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526070254/https://usm.maine.edu/linguistics/judy-shepard-kegl |date=2022-05-26 }}— Official webpage at University of Southern Maine * [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/2/l_072_04.html Short PBS Documentary on ISN]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepard-Kegl, Judy}} [[Category:1953 births]] [[Category:Linguists from the United States]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni]] [[Category:University of Southern Maine faculty]]