LSA Bulletin
March 2005
Appreciation
M. Dale Kinkade
(1933-2004)
M. Dale Kinkade, Professor Emeritus, U BC, and noted scholar of Salish languages, passed away19 December 2004, succumbing to a brain tumor. Born 18 July 1933, in Hartline, WA, he earned his BA in German in 1955 and his MA in German philology in 1957 from U WA. He received his PhD in linguistics in 1963 from IN U, where he studied with Carl Voegelin, Florence Voegelin, Fred Householder, and Harry Velten. His dissertation, Phonology and morphology of Upper Chehalis, was published as a four-part paper in IJAL (1963-64). He taught at Cntrl WA SC (1961-64), U KS (1964-73), and U BC (1973-98).
Prof. Kinkade's career was devoted to the study of Salish languages,
a family of 23 languages spoken in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, and Montana. His fieldwork focused on three Salish languages: Columbian
(in the Interior branch), Cowlitz, and Upper Chehalis (both in the Tsamosan
branch). In fact, we are indebted to him for almost all we know about
Tsamosan (named by him from the words for 'two' and 'four'). In addition
to dictionaries of these three languages, he published over 100 papers,
touching on every aspect of Salish languages--phonetics, phonology, morphology,
syntax, semantics, discourse, ethnobiology, and place names. He also wrote,
together with Laurence C. Thompson (U HI), on the classification of Salish
languages, Proto-Salish phonology, and areal features of Northwest languages.
His broad knowledge led to several articles in encyclopedias and The
handbook of North American Indians (Vols. 7, 12, and 17). For a list
of his publications, see Jan van Eijk's Salish bibliography.
Prof. Kinkade generously shared his data and expertise. His legacy includes
his meticulously transcribed field notes and his tape recordings, which
are archived at the U WA Library. He mentored many students through his
field methods courses and his seminars. He supervised nine MA theses and
four PhD dissertations and was a crucial member of several other committees.
Many authors benefited from his thorough and insightful reviews. On his
65th birthday he was honored with a special issue of IJAL (63.3, July
1997), and in 2004 he was presented with a festschrift (University of
Montana Occasional Publications in Linguistics).
A long-time member of the LSA and the AAA, Prof. Kinkade was also a founding member of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, serving as its second president in 1983. He was part of the group that in 1966 started the International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages, which he attended for 39 consecutive years. He also served on the board of the Jacobs Research Fund, which supports fieldwork on Native American languages and cultures. Those wishing to honor his memory may make a contribution in his name to the Jacobs Research Fund, Whatcom Museum Foundation, 121 Prospect St, Bellingham, WA 98225. [Donna Gerdts, Simon Fraser U]