Judith Aissen Explained

Judith Aissen
Education:	Harvard University, PhD, Linguistics, 1974
Occupation:	Linguist
Known For:	Mayan languages, syntax, morphology
Website:	https://people.ucsc.edu/~aissen/

Judith Lillian Aissen (born 4 June 1948) is an American professor emerita in linguistics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.^[1]

Career

Aissen began to study Mayan languages in 1972 as a graduate student at Harvard University,^[2] conducting field research in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. Her 1974 Harvard dissertation on The Syntax of Causative Constructions^[3] was published by Garland in 1979. She joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1983.

Aissen is particularly known for her analysis of Tzotzil and other Mayan languages having abstract obviation systems akin to those described in Algonquian languages^[4] as well as for her work on differential object marking. Since 1995, she has been making trips to Chiapas to teach workshops in syntax to linguistics students who are native Mayan language speakers.

Awards and distinctions

On January 3, 2008, she became a fellow of the Linguistic Society of America.^{[5] [6]} In 2011, Aissen's colleagues at University of California, Santa Cruz organized a festschrift in her honor, entitled Representing Language: Essays in Honor of Judith Aissen.^[7] In 2018, she was awarded the Linguistic Society of America's Kenneth L. Hale Award "for her energetic documentation of Tzotzil and other Mayan languages, her success at bringing these languages to bear on linguistic theory, and her commitment to the nurturing of Indigenous linguists."^[8]

Selected publications

Books

• Aissen, Judith. The syntax of causative constructions. Vol. 10. Garland Pub., 1979.
• Aissen, Judith. Tzotzil clause structure. Vol. 7. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

Articles

• Aissen, Judith, and David M. Perlmutter. "Clause reduction in Spanish." Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society. Vol. 2. 1976.
• Aissen, Judith. "Topic and focus in Mayan." Language (1992): 43-80.
• Aissen, Judith. "On the syntax of obviation". Language. 73 (1997): 705–750. ISSN 1535-0665. doi:10.1353/lan.1997.0042
• Aissen, Judith. "Markedness and subject choice in Optimality Theory." Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 17.4 (1999): 673-711.
• Aissen, Judith. "Differential object marking: Iconicity vs. economy." Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 21.3 (2003): 435-483.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Faculty Directory. linguistics.ucsc.edu. en. 2017-09-04.
2. Web site: Saving Endangered Languages. Rappaport. Scott. UC Santa Cruz News. 2017-07-19.
3. Web site: Harvard Linguistics Alumni 1970s. linguistics.fas.harvard.edu. en. 2019-03-01.
4. Web site: judith aissen - Google Scholar. scholar.google.com. 2017-07-24.
5. Web site: Judith Aissen named Fellow of Linguistic Society of America . 13 January 2008 . 16 December 2014 . Scott Rappaport.
6. Web site: LSA Fellows By Name. www.linguisticsociety.org. 2017-09-03.
7. Rodrigo. Gutiérrez-Bravo. Line. Mikkelsen. Eric. Potsdam. 2011-06-15. Representing Language: Essays in Honor of Judith Aissen. Linguistics Research Center. en. -9836-9380-3. 9780983693802 .
8. Web site: Award Winners Announced: Early Career Award, Kenneth L. Hale Award, & Linguistics, Language, and the Public Award. www.linguisticsociety.org. 2019-03-01.