Dr. David Costa

Dr. David Costa

Dr. David J. Costa

Dr. David J. Costa is the Program Director for the Language Research Office at the Myaamia Center. A third-generation northern Californian, he grew up in San Jose, California, completing his B.A. in linguistics at UCLA in 1985, and his Ph.D. in linguistics at U.C. Berkeley in 1994, with his dissertation on the Miami-Illinois Language. A revised version of his dissertation was published through the University of Nebraska Press in 2003. He has been studying the Miami-Illinois language since 1988, and has worked extensively with the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma on language revitalization since 1995.

In his capacity as Program Director for the Language Research Office, Costa conducts continuing research on the Miami-Illinois language, as well as helping to design language curricula for the Myaamia Center, and answering language inquiries from members of the Center and the Miami Tribe. Costa is also now involved in a long-term project to analyze and annotate the data from the Miami-Illinois language manuscripts that have been uploaded into MIDA (the Miami-Illinois Digital Archive), a process that will continue for many years to come.

In addition to his work on Miami-Illinois, Costa has also done extensive research on the Shawnee language, the Algonquian languages of southern New England, and comparative Algonquian. After having lived in El Cerrito, California, for 22 years, Dr. Costa and his wife Mary now live in Oxford, Ohio.

Publications

Copies of many of these articles can be obtained by emailing Dr. Costa at costad@miamioh.edu

Costa, David J. 2022. Prenouns and Noun Compounding in Miami-Illinois. Papers of the 51st Algonquian Conference, eds. Monica Macaulay & Margaret Noodin. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press, pp. 19-39.

Costa, David J. 2022. As Long as the Earth Endures: Annotated Miami-Illinois Texts. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. (https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496228567)

Costa, David J. 2021. The Emphatic Negative in Indiana Miami and the Dialectology of Miami-Illinois. In Webs of Relationship and Words from Long Ago: A Festschrift Presented to Ives Goddard on the Occasion of his 80th birthday. Lucy Thomason, David J. Costa, and Amy Dahlstrom, eds. Petoskey, Michigan: Mundart Press, pp. 63-81.

Costa, David J. 2020. Instrumental Nouns in Miami-Illinois. Papers of the 49th Algonquian Conference, eds. Monica Macaulay & Margaret Noodin. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press, pp. 57-80.

Costa, David J. 2019. Rounding Dissimilation in Miami-Illinois. Papers of the 48th Algonquian Conference, eds. Monica Macaulay & Margaret Noodin. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press, pp. 53-68.

Costa, David J. 2018. Myaamia “Story of Fox and Wolf”. In Gus Palmer Jr., ed., When Dream Bear Sings: Native Literatures of the Southern Plains, 41-48. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Baldwin, D., David J. Costa. 2018. Myaamiaataweenki: Revitalization of a sleeping language. In: The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages. Edited by: Kenneth L. Rehg and Lyle Campbell. Oxford University Press, New York.

Costa, David J. 2017. Miami-Illinois Word Order: Basic Constituent Order. Anthropological Linguistics 59:4, 349-389.

Baldwin, Daryl, David J. Costa & Douglas Troy. 2016. Myaamiaataweenki eekincikoonihkiinki eeyoonki aapisaataweenki: A Miami Language Digital Tool for Language Reclamation. Language Documentation & Conservation 10. 394-410. (https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/24713)

Costa, David J. 2016. Diminutive Nouns in Miami-Illinois. Anthropological Linguistics 58: 381-410.

Costa, David J. 2015. Redacting Premodern Texts Without Speakers: the Peoria Story of Wiihsakacaakwa. In D. Costa (2015), ed., New Voices for Old Words: Algonquian Oral Literatures, 34-89. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Costa, David J. 2014. On the Origins of “Pickawillany”. Names 62: 4, 214-17. (doi:10.1179/0027773814Z.00000000090)

Costa, David J. 2013. On the Elements for a Grammar of Miami-Illinois. Papers of the 41st Algonquian Conference, eds. Karl S. Hele & J. Randolph Valentine. Albany: SUNY Press, pp. 40-59.

Costa, David J. 2010. Myaamia neehi peewaalia aacimoona neehi aalhsoohkaana. Myaamia and Peoria Narratives and Winter Stories. Oxford, Ohio: Myaamia Project.

Costa, David J. 2008. On the Origins of the Name “Illinois”. Le Journal 24/4: 6-10.

Costa, David J. 2008. New Notes on Miami-Illinois. In Regna Darnell & Karl S. Hele, eds., Papers of the 39th Algonquian Conference, 123-165. London: The University of Western Ontario.

Costa, David J. 2007. Illinois: A Place Name. Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas Newsletter XXV: 4, 9-12

Baldwin, Daryl & David J. Costa. 2005. Myaamia Neehi Peewaalia Kaloosioni Mahsinaakani: a Miami-Peoria Dictionary. Miami, Oklahoma: Miami Nation.

Costa, David J. 2005b. Culture Hero and Trickster Stories. In Brian Swann, ed., Algonquian Spirit: Contemporary Translations of the Algonquian Literatures of North America, 292-319. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Costa, David J. 2005a. The St-Jérôme Dictionary of Miami-Illinois. In H. C. Wolfart, ed., Papers of the 36th Algonquian Conference, 107-133. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.

Costa, David J. 2004. Corrections to the Miami-Illinois Language. Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics 29/1: 10.

Costa, David J. 2003. The Miami-Illinois Language. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Costa, David J. 2002. An Overview of the Illinois Language. In Masthay, Carl, ed. Kaskaskia Illinois-to-French Dictionary. St. Louis, Missouri, 2-5.

Costa, David J. 2000. Miami-Illinois Tribe Names. In John Nichols, ed., Papers of the Thirty-first Algonquian Conference 30-53. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.

Costa, David J. 1999. The Kinship Terminology of the Miami-Illinois Language. Anthropological Linguistics 41: 28-53

Costa, David J. 1997. Iilaataweeyankwi: Our Language. A Handbook of the Miami Language. Miami, Oklahoma: Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.

Costa, David J. 1994. The Miami-Illinois Language. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

Costa, David J. 1993. The Mission Press Wea Primer of 1837. In William Cowan, ed., Papers of the Twenty-fourth Algonquian Conference 46-63. Ottawa: Carleton University.

Costa, David J. 1992. Miami-Illinois Animal Names. Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics 17/3: 19-44

Grant, Anthony P. & David J. Costa. 1991. Some Observations on J.P. Harrington’s Peoria Vocabulary. Anthropological Linguistics 406-436.

Costa, David J. 1991a. Approaching the Sources on Miami-Illinois. In William Cowan, ed., Papers of the Twenty-second Algonquian Conference 30-47. Ottawa: Carleton University.

Costa, David J. 1991b. The Historical Phonology of Miami-Illinois Consonants. International Journal of American Linguistics 57: 365-393.

Presentations

2024. "The Lexical Basis of Core Central Algonquian". To the Conference on Proto-Algonquian, Berkeley, California, March 2, 2024.

2023.  “Noun Gender in Miami-Illinois”. To the 55th Algonquian Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, October 20, 2023.

2022.  “Initial Short Vowels, Dialect Variation, and Language Change in Miami-Illinois”. To the 54th Algonquian Conference, Boulder, Colorado, October 22, 2022.

Costa, David J. with Lockwood, Hunter T. 2022. The Miami-Illinois Digital Archive: Where Are We Now? to the 9th Biennial Myaamiaki Conference, Miami University, Oxford, OH April 9, 2022

2021 “sk and sp in Illinois”. To the 53rd Algonquian Conference, Ottawa, Canada, October 14, 2021.

2019 “Prenouns and Noun Compounding in Miami-Illinois”. To the 51st Algonquian Conference, Montreal, Canada, October 26, 2019.

2019 “An Overview of the Miami-Illinois Language”. Talk given to Linguistics Department Colloquium, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. September 20, 2019.

2019 “Technological Tools of the Trade for Myaamia Language Revitalization” in Technology Showcase Session, 6th International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC), March 1, 2019, Honolulu, Hawai'i (with Jonathan Fox and Douglas Troy)

2018 "Verb Negation in Indiana Miami". To the 50th Algonquian Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, October 26, 2018

2017 “The Jesuit Illinois Manuscripts and the Miami-Illinois Language”. Paper given to symposium Nothing Without Sound: Jesuits, Indigenous Languages, and New Dialogues, Winnipeg, Canada. November 16, 2017.

2017 “Instrumental Nouns in Miami-Illinois”. To the 49th Algonquian Conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, October 27, 2017.

2016 “Rounding Dissimilation in Miami-Illinois”. To the 48th Algonquian Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 15, 2016.

2016 (with Jarrid Baldwin) “Public Launch of the Miami-Illinois Digital Archive (MIDA) and the Online Myaamia Dictionary”. To the 7th biennial Myaamiaki Conference, Miami University, Oxford Ohio, April 2, 2016.

2015 “Diminutive Nouns in Miami-Illinois”. To the 47th Algonquian Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, October 24, 2015.

2014 “The Future/Desiderative in Miami-Illinois and Old Illinois”. To the 46th Algonquian Conference, Uncasville, Connecticut, October 25, 2014.

2014 “The Miami-Illinois Language Over Two and a Half Centuries: Surveying the Linguistic Sources”. To the 60 th annual Ethnohistory Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, October 10, 2014.

2014 “iiši-šaašihkihpinahtoonki kaloosiona: Word Order in Myaamia”. To the 6th biennial Myaamiaki Conference, Miami University, Oxford Ohio, March 15, 2014.

2013 “Enclitics and Sentence Particles in Miami-Illinois”. To the 45th Algonquian Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, October 19, 2013.

2012 “Word Order in Miami-Illinois”. To the 44th Algonquian Conference, Chicago, Illinois, October 27, 2012.

2012 “Surveying the Sources on the Myaamia Language”. To the 5th biennial Myaamiaki Conference, Miami University, Oxford Ohio, March 31, 2012.

2012 “Borrowing in Southern Great Lakes Algonquian and the History of Potawatomi”. To the 14th Spring Workshop on Theory and Method in Linguistic Reconstruction, Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 17, 2012.

2011 “The Algonquian Language Data in M.R. Harrington’s Inventories”. To the 43rd Algonquian Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan, October 22, 2011.

2010 “Borrowing in Southern Great Lakes Algonquian”. To the 42nd Algonquian Conference, St. Johns, Newfoundland, October 28, 2010.

2009 “On ‘the Elements for a Grammar of Miami-Illinois’”. To the 41st Algonquian Conference, Montréal, Quebec, October 25, 2009.

2008 “Redacting Premodern Texts Without Speakers: the Peoria Story of Wiihsakacaakwa”. To the 40th Algonquian Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 30, 2008.

2008. “Myaamia-Peewaalia Winter Stories Within Algonquian.” To the 3rd biennial Myaamiaki Conference, Miami University, Oxford Ohio, March 29, 2008

2007 “New Notes on Miami-Illinois”. To the 39th Algonquian Conference, Toronto, Ontario, October 20, 2007.

2006 “The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian”. To the 38th Algonquian Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, October 28, 2006.

2005 “The Miami-Illinois Calendar”. To the 37th Algonquian Conference, Gatineau, Québec, October 22, 2005.

2005 “Where Do We Get All Those Words?: the Sources for the Miami Language”. To: Cause and Effect: a Series of Papers by Tribal Scholars Discussing Topics Associated With NAGPRA and Supporting the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s 2004 NPS NAGPRA Documentation Grant. Miami, OK, June 2, 2005.

2004 “The Saint-Jerome Miami-Illinois Dictionary: a First Look”. To the 36th Algonquian Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, October 30, 2004

2004 “The New French-Illinois Dictionary of Saint-Jérôme”. To Myaamiaki: The Miami People. A Conference on Current Miami Tribe Scholarship. Miami University, Oxford, OH, March 27, 2004.

2004 “Reconstructing the Sounds of Pequot: Problems and Choices”. To the Second Conference on Revitalizing Algonquian Languages, Mashantucket, CT, February 20, 2004

2003 “The 17th-Century Pequot Vocabulary of James Noyes: a First Look”. To the 35th Algonquian Conference, London, Ontario, October 25, 2003.

2001 “Preverb Usage in Shawnee Narratives”. To the 33rd Algonquian Conference, Berkeley, California, October 26, 2001

1999 “Miami-Illinois Tribe Names”. To the 31st Algonquian Conference, Lafayette, Indiana, October 29, 1999.

1998 “The Kinship System of the Miami-Illinois Tribes”. To the 30th Algonquian Conference, Burlington, Massachusetts, October 24, 1998.

1997 “Shawnee Noun Plurals: Another Look”. To the 29th Algonquian Conference, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, October 25, 1997.

1996 “Preverb Usage in Shawnee Narratives”. To 35th Conference on American Indian Languages, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 22, 1996.

1996 “Shawnee Verb Inflection Within Algonquian”. To SSILA winter meeting/LSA, San Diego, January 5, 1996.

1994 “Reconstructing Initial Change in Algonquian”. To the 26th Algonquian Conference, Winnipeg, Canada, October 1994.

1993 “The Negative Conjugation in Miami-Illinois, Ojibwe and Cheyenne”. To the 25th Algonquian Conference, Montréal, Canada, October 1993.

1992 “On the Mission Press Wea Primer of 1837”. To the 24th Algonquian Conference, Ottawa, Canada, October 1992.

1992 “Vowel Length and Stress in Miami-Illinois”. To the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the Americas, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, December 1992.

1991 “Dependent Verbs and Initial Change in Miami-Illinois”. To the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the Americas, summer LSA Institute meeting, SantaCruz, California, July 1991.

1990 “Approaching the Sources on Miami-Illinois”. To the 22nd Algonquian Conference, Chicago, October 1990.

Related Publications

Costa, David J. 2022. Review of A Harmony of the Four Gospels in Delaware: The Translation by Ira D. Blanchard and James Conner (1837–1839). Edited by Ira D. Blanchard, James Conner, and Ives Goddard; The Delaware Primers of Ira D. Blanchard. By Ives Goddard and Miles Beckwith; A Glossary to the Delaware Publications of Ira D. Blanchard. By Miles Beckwith and Ives Goddard. IJAL 88: 433-437.

Costa, David J. (ed). 2015. New Voices for Old Words: Algonquian Oral Literatures. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Costa, David J. 2013. Borrowing in Southern Great Lakes Algonquian and the History of Potawatomi. Anthropological Linguistics. 55: 195-233.

Costa, David J. 2009. Review of a Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language, by Gordon Whittaker. IJAL 75: 280-2.

Costa, David J. 2008. Review of Tales from Maliseet Country: The Maliseet Texts of Karl V. Teeter. Philip S. LeSourd, translator and editor. Anthropological Linguistics 50: 205-206.

Costa, David J. 2007. The Dialectology of Southern New England Algonquian. In H. C. Wolfart, ed., Papers of the 38th Algonquian Conference, 81-127. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.
Costa, David J. 2005. Review of Modern Mohegan and a Lexicon of Modern Mohegan, by Julian Granberry. IJAL 71: 221-226.

Costa, David J. 2004. Review of Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar, by J. Randolph Valentine. IJAL: 70: 452-456.

Rhodes, Richard A. & David J. Costa. 2003. The History of Algonquian Number Words. In: Blair A. Rudes and David J. Costa (eds.). Essays in Algonquian, Catawban, and Siouan Linguistics in Memory of Frank T. Siebert, Jr. Winnipeg: Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics Memoirs Series Memoir 16, 181-215.

Costa, David J. 2003. Historical Topics in Shawnee Verb Inflection. In: Blair A. Rudes and David J. Costa (eds.). Essays in Algonquian, Catawban, and Siouan Linguistics in Memory of Frank T. Siebert, Jr. Winnipeg: Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics Memoirs Series Memoir 16, 1-13.

Costa, David J. 2002. Preverb Usage in Shawnee Narratives. In H. C. Wolfart, ed., Papers of the 33rd Algonquian Conference, 120-161. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.

Costa, David J. 2001. Shawnee Noun Plurals. Anthropological Linguistics 43: 255-287.

Costa, David J. 1999. Review of Micmac Dictionary, by Albert DeBlois. IJAL 65: 243-244.

Costa, David J. 1997. Review of Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 17: Languages. Ives Goddard, ed. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 7(2): 222-224.

Costa, David J. 1996. Reconstructing Initial Change in Algonquian. Anthropological Linguistics 38: 39-72.

Costa, David J. 1996. Review of Âtalôhkâna nêsta tipâcimôwina: Cree Legends and Narratives from the West Coast of James Bay, Told by Simeon Scott et al, by C. Douglas Ellis. Anthropological Linguistics 38: 373-375.

Costa, David J. 1996. Review of Delaware-English, English-Delaware Dictionary, by John O'Meara. Anthropological Linguistics 38: 578-581.

Costa, David J. 1996. Review of Western Abenaki Dictionary, by Gordon Day. IJAL 62: 418 422.

Costa, David J. 1991. Review of Schmick's Mahican Dictionary, by Carl Masthay. Anthropological Linguistics 33: 217-220.