Picture of Jesse Stewart

Jesse Stewart PhD

Associate Professor

Faculty Member in Linguistics

Office
Arts 916

Research Area(s)

  • Phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics
  • Mixed languages and language contact
  • Media Lengua, Quichua, Guaraní, Michif, Gurindji-Kriol, Siona, ASL, and Romance languages
  • Computational linguistics
  • Language documentation and conservation
  • Suprasegmental phonology (intonation, nasality, stress, lengthening etc.)

Publications

ASL Acoustics American Sign Language Discourse Gurindji Gurindji Kriol Intonation Kichwa Kriol Lengthening Media Lengua Michif Narratives Perception Phonetics Phonology Production Quechua Quichua Sign lengthening Siona VOT Voice onset time Vowel production Vowel space Vowels diphthongs fricatives rhotics vowel sequencies

Stewart, Jesse. Mixed Languages (accepted). Wiley Blackwell Companion to Diachronic Linguistics

Stewart, Jesse. (accepted). Media Lengua Collection. Archival material in The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA). 

Stewart. (accepted). Media Lengua in the Ecuadorian Andes. In Cerno L., Döhla HJ., Gutiérrez Maté M., Hesselbach R, Steffen J. (eds.), Contact varieties of Spanish and Spanish lexified contact varieties. Mouton De Gruyter: Leipzig

Grzech, Karolina, A. Rice, C. Beier, P. Bermúdez, M. Bruil, A. Cognet, G. Ennis, A. Fawcett, C. High, W. de Lima Silva, C. Dickinson, T. Fink, S. Floyd, M. Kohlberger, P. Muysken, A. Schwarz, J. Stewart (accepted). Ecuadorian experiences in collaborative language documentation.

Lovick, Olga, Kristy Reyes Herrera, & Jesse Stewart. (2023). The Realization of Voiceless Nasal Consonants in Upper Tanana (Dene). In: Radek Skarnitzl & Jan Volín (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (3306-3310). Prague: Guarant International.

Stewart, Jesse & Sky Onosson. (2023). Vowel Raising in Cotopaxi Quichuan Languages. In: Radek Skarnitzl & Jan Volín (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (3311-3315). Prague: Guarant International.

Onosson, Sky & Jesse Stewart. (2023). Cotopaxi Media Lengua Vowels: A Preliminary Analysis. In: Radek Skarnitzl & Jan Volín (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (3360-3365). Prague: Guarant International.

Stewart, J. (2023). Contacto de lenguas y variación. In Patricia Alandia Mercado (ed.) Introducción a la Lingüística: Curso para Investigadores de Lenguas Indígenas de Bolivia. Lingüística y Literatura Página y Signos: Cochabamba. (15 Pages)

Stewart, J. L. Gonza Inlago, & G. Prado Ayala (2023). Cotopaxi Media Lengua is still very much alive. Language Documentation and Conservation, 17, 49-63. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/74690

Meakins, F. & J. Stewart. (2022). Mixed Languages. In Salikoko Mufwene and Anna Maria Escobar (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact. Cambridge Volume 2: Multilingualism in Population Structure: Cambridge University Press. 310-343. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316796146.016

Bruil, M., & Stewart, J. (2022). Phonetics and phonology of nasality in Ecuadorian Siona. Phonological Data and Analysis, 4(3), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.3765/pda.v4art3.44

Portocarrero, A. & Stewart, J. (2021). A preliminary analysis of intonation patterns in Ecuadorian Cuencano Spanish: Open Linguistics, 7(1), 448-475. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2020-0169

Onosson, S., & Stewart, J. (2021). A multi-method approach to correlate identification in acoustic data: The case of Media Lengua. Laboratory Phonology: Journal of the Association for Laboratory Phonology, 12(1), 13. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/labphon.291

Stewart, J. & F. Meakins. (2021). Advances in mixed language phonology: An overview of three case studies. In Maria Mazzoli & Eeva Sippola (eds.), New Perspectives on Mixed Languages: From Core to Fringe. Language Contact and Bilingualism. Berlin: De GruyterMouton

Prado Ayala, G, L. Gonza Inlago, J. Stewart (2021). Recetacunaca Yopa Comunidadmanta [Recipes from my Community: Told in Media Lengua]. Lexington KY, USA: Lulu. [link]

Onosson, Sky & Jesse Stewart. (2021). The Effects of Language Contact on Non-Native Vowel Sequences in Lexical Borrowings: The Case of Media Lengua. Language and Speech PaPE 2019 Special Issue. 1-30 doi.org/10.1177/00238309211014911

Stewart, J. Gabriela Prado Ayala & Lucia Gonza Inlago (2020). Media Lengua Dictionary. Dictionaria. 13. 1-3192 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4147099 (Available online: Dictionaria)

Stewart, J. (2020). A preliminary, descriptive survey of rhotic and approximant fricativization in Northern Ecuadorian Andean Spanish varieties, Quichua, and Media Lengua. In Rajiv G. Rao (ed.), Spanish phonetics and phonology in contact: Studies from Africa, the Americas, and Spain. Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamin’s https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.28.05ste

Rosen, N. J. Stewart, & O. Sammons. (2020). How “mixed” is mixed language phonology? An acoustic analysis of the Michif vowel system. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 147(4): 2989–2999 https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0001009

Stewart, J., F. Meakins, C. Algy, T. Ennever, & A. Joshua. (to appear 2020). Fickle fricatives: Obstruent perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 147(4): 2766–2778 https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0000991

Rosen, N., J. Stewart, M. Pesch-Johnson, & O. Sammons. (2020). VOT in Michif. In Sasha Calhoun, Paola Escudero, Marija Tabain & Paul Warren (eds.) Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Melbourne, Australia 2019 (pp. 1372-1376). Canberra, Australia: Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association Inc. [link]

Stewart, J. M. Bruil, & E. Portilla Hernandez. (2019). Loosely structured role-playing events as a means to elicit intonation patterns. In Sasha Calhoun, Paola Escudero, Marija Tabain & Paul Warren (eds.) Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Melbourne, Australia 2019 (pp. 3593- 3597). Canberra, Australia: Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association Inc. [link]

Stewart, J. (2018). A comparative analysis of Media Lengua, Quichua, Spanish vowel perception. Journal of Phonetics. 71: 117-193 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2018.08.005

Stewart, J., F. Meakins, C. Algy, & A. Joshua (2018). The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol. Journal of Language Contact, 11(1): 71-112 doi.org/10.1163/19552629-01101003

Stewart, J. (2017). Voice onset time production in Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua. Journalof the International Phonetic Association, 48 (2): 173-197. doi.org/10.1017/S002510031700024X

Stewart, J., M. Kohlberger. (2017). Earbuds: A method for measuring nasality in the field. Journal of Language Documentation and Conservation, 11: 49-80. [link]

Stewart, J. (2015). Intonation patterns in Pijal Media Lengua. Journal of Language Contact 8(2):223-262. doi.org/10.1163/19552629-00802003

Stewart, J. (2014). A comparative analysis of Media Lengua and Quichua vowel production. Phonetica. 71(3):159-182 doi.org/10.1159/000369629

Stewart, J. (2014). A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language. Sign language and linguistics 7(1):82-101. doi.org/10.1075/sll.17.1.04ste

Stewart, J. (2013). Stories and Traditions from Pijal: Told in Media Lengua. North Charleston: CreateSpace.

Artistic Works

I'm often told to stop playing the guitar.

Teaching & Supervision

Introduction to linguistics Morphology Phonetics Principles of phonology Research Methods Second language acquisition Structure of language

Supervision:
In-progress
Faezeh MOTEVALLIAN (MA)
      An Acoustic Analysis of Vowels in Sangesari
Fatemeh FATEMI (MA)
      Online Quichua and Media Lengua Verb Conjugator
Kristy REYES (MA)
      Voice Onset Time in Achí

Completed
PhD
Christiani Pinheiro THOMPSON WAGNER (PhD)
      Tipo, Brazil’s like: A synchronic phonetic analysis of nominal discourse functions

MA
Taliza CHAVEZ CORDOVA (MA 2021)
        A Comparative Lexical Analysis of Unified Kichwa and Agualongo de Paredes Kichwa
Aurora SAHAGÚN RUíZ (MA 2021)
       Spanish VOT Production by L1 Nahuat Speakers
Alex PORTOCARRERO (MA 2019)
       An Analysis of Intonation Patterns in Ecuadorian Cuencano Spanish: A Sp_Tobi Description

BA (Honours)

Melanie BECKHUSEN (BA, hons, 20223)
       Rapping versus natural speech on voice onset time
Emma WEDHOLM (BA, hons, 2020)
      Saskatchewan Vowel Production: An Analysis of Formant Production Between Rural and Urban

Teaching (2023-24):
Structure of a non-Indo-European language - Media Lengua
Morphology
Phonetics

Courses taught:
Morphology - LING 243
Language Teaching and Technology in TESOL - ESOL 803
Structure of Language - LING 111
Principles of Phonology - LING 340
Research Methods - LING 804
Phonetics - LING 242
Development of Language Proficiencies - TESOL 802
Intercultural Communication - LING 251
Academic Reading and Writing - ESL 115
Second Language Acquisition - LING 248
Academic Speaking - ESL 116
Rules of English Grammar - LING 1440 (Manitoba)
Introductory Linguistics - 1001 (Winnipeg)
Pronunciation - ESLC 0270 (Manitoba)

Research

Acoustic Phonetics Auditory (Perceptual) Phonetics Computational linguistics (statistical modeling, parsers, web-based language revitalization tools) Empirical & Experimental Linguistics Language Contact Language Documentation Languages of Latin America Media Lengua Mixed Languages Morphonology Nasality Phonology Psycholinguistics Quechuan Languages

I'm an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Saskatchewan, located on Treaty 6 Territory, Canada. I have been collaborating with speakers of Media Lengua (ISO 639-3 mue) in the Community of Pijal (Imbabura, Ecuador) for over a decade in an effort to document their language. Together, we have compiled the first Media Lengua dictionary (online, print) and complied a storybook containing 30 oral stories and traditions from Pijal, written in Media Lengua. We're currently working on a cookbook with 30+ recipes, written in Media Lengua, and archival material for AILLA.

My primary area of academic research explores questions pertaining to the production and perception of phonemic conflict sites (conflicting areas of phonological convergence) in mixed languages (and language contact in general); specifically relating to Media Lengua (Ecuador). As of late, I have been working in collaboration with Dr. Sky Onosson to further expand on these questions in Media Lenuga and with numerous other colleagues to expand these questions to other mixed languages; specifically Michif (Canada, ISO 639-3 crg), Gurindji-Kriol (Australia, ISO 639-3 gjr), and Ma'a (Tanzania, ISO 639-3 mhd). In addition, I've been working in collaboration on a number of other languages to document nasality phenomena (Dr. Martine Bruil, Dr. Olga Lovick, Kristy Reyes Herrera) using a new method developed by Dr. Martin Kohlberger and myself, which provides an effective means of gathering nasal data from the field. I also have past projects that explore discourse phenomena in ASL; namely, sign lengthening and the identification of disfluencies in the visual-gestural modality). All my publications are available online on my personal website.

Additionally, I help promote a community tourism project called Sumak Pacha located in Pijal, Imbabura, Ecuador where Media Lengua is spoken. Sumak Pacha is a grassroots effort to promote Kayambi culture and help build a more sustainable economy to combat outmigration. The project offers a homestay program and various activities including: Organic agricultural growing techniques, music, dance, national foods, hiking trails, horseback riding, bike trips, and rural lodging. If you're interested in visiting Pijal let me know.

Education & Training

Ph.D., University of Manitoba, 2015 - Linguistics
M.A., University of Manitoba, 2011 - Linguistics
B.A., Evergreen State College, 2007 -  Romance Linguistics
A.A., South Puget Sound Community College, 2006 - General