And he knew our language: missionary linguistics on the Pacific northwest coast

This ambitious and ground-breaking book examines the linguistic studies produced by missionaries based on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America (and particularly Haida Gwaii) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Making extensive use of unpublished archival materials, the author demonstrates that the missionaries were responsible for introducing many innovative and insightful grammatical analyses. Rather than merely adopting Graeco-Roman models, they drew extensively upon studies of non-European languages, and a careful exploration of their scripture translations reveal the origins of the Haida sociolect that emerged as a result of the missionary activity. The complex interactions between the missionaries and anthropologists are also discussed, and it is shown that the former sometimes anticipated linguistic analyses that are now incorrectly attributed to the latter.

Intro -- And he knew our language -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC Data -- Dedication page -- Table of contents -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1 Missionary linguistics -- 1.2 The languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast -- 1.3 The Haida language -- 1.4 The Kwak'wala language -- 1.5 The Tsimshian language -- 1.6 Summary -- 2. Culture and contact -- 2.1 Haida Gwaii -- 2.2 Discovery and exploration -- 2.3 The arrival of the missionaries -- 2.4 Disease and demography -- 3. Initial encounters -- 3.1 Explorations -- 3.2 Comparing and contrasting Tsimshian and Haida -- 3.3 The Lord's prayer -- 3.4 The acquirement of the tongue -- 3.5 Preparing the ground -- 4. Analysing and assessing -- 4.1 Language and mission -- 4.2 Hall and Kwak'wala -- 4.3 Harrison and Haida -- 4.4 Phonological associations -- 4.5 The noun phrase domain -- 4.6 The verb phrase domain -- 5. Translating scripture -- 5.1 Mission and translation -- 5.2 The Haida scriptures -- 5.3 Souls and spirits -- 5.4 Social hierarchies and power structures -- 5.5 Ideology and dialogue -- 6. Anthropological approaches -- 6.1 A strange relationship -- 6.2 The influence of the missionaries -- 6.3 The influence of the anthropologists -- 6.4 Exploring shamanism -- 6.5 Consequences -- 7. Conclusion -- References -- Index of biographical names -- Index of subjects and terms.