Curriculum Vitae
Education
University of Texas at Austin
1984 Ph.D., Linguistics
SUNY Oswego
1975 B.A., Linguistics and English
Professional Experience
Dallas International University (GIAL), Dallas, Texas
2008-pres Adjunct Faculty
UT Arlington
2007 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics and TESOL
University of North Texas
• 2006-2008 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of English Linguistics
SIL International
• 2009-present Language and Culture Documentation Services (various roles)
• 1987-2008 Advisor, Natqgu Language Project, Santa Cruz island, Temotu Province, Solomon Islands
• 1999-2006 Linguistics & Translation Consultant for Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group
Publications
English Publications
2021. Lackey, William James and Brenda H. Boerger. Reexamining the phonological history of Oceanic’s Temotu subgroup. Oceanic Linguistics 60.2:367-411.
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/836178/pdf
2020. Boerger, Brenda H., Hannah Averitt, Katherine Dever, Miranda Kuykendall, and Nathaniel Robenalt. Review of—Keeping Languages Alive: Documentation, Pedagogy, and Revitalization. Marci C. Jones and Sarah Ogilvie, eds. 2013. Journal of Language, Culture, and Religion 1.2:65-70. https://www.diu.edu/jlcr/volume-1-number-2/
2019. Boerger, Brenda H., Alexander Boerger, Leonard Menrlwz, and Myknee Q. Sirikolo, Jr. “On integrating ethnobotany with field linguistics.” In Brenda H. Boerger and Paul Unger (eds.), Selected Proceedings from the Tenth Conference On Oceanic Linguistics (COOL10). SIL Language and Culture Documentation and Description 45: 113-15. https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/82335
2019. Boerger, Brenda and Jeremiah Aviel. Rapid Word Collection Workshops: Why & how to do them. Invited workshop presented twice at the 6th International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC6). http://hdl.handle.net/10125/44885
2019. Boerger, Brenda H. “Marked use of personal directionals in Natügu narrative texts.” In Brenda H. Boerger and Paul Unger (eds.), Selected Proceedings from the Tenth Conference On Oceanic Linguistics (COOL10). SIL Language and Culture Documentation and Description 45:1-23. https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/82335
2019. Boerger, Brenda H., and Paul Unger, eds. Selected Proceedings from the Tenth Conference On Oceanic Linguistics (COOL10), SIL Language and Culture Documentation and Description 45. https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/82335
2018. Single-event Rapid Word Collection workshops: Efficient, effective, empowering, with Verna Stutzman. Language Documentation and Conservation 12. 147-193. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24766
2016. Language and Culture Documentation Manual, with Sarah Moeller, Will Reiman, and Stephen N. Self. LeanPub. https://leanpub.com/languageandculturedocumentationmanual
2016. Freeing biblical poetry to sing. Open Theology 2:179-203. Topical issue on Bible Translation. Mark L. Strauss, ed. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/opth-2016-0014
2015. Bible translation as Natqgu language and culture advocacy. In Language Vitality through Bible Translation. Beerle-Moor, Marianne and Vitaly Voinov, eds. Peter Lang: Berkeley Insights in Linguistics and Semiotics. 145-176. Reviewed 12 April 2018: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2051677018765056
2012. Recognizing Nalögo and Natügu as separate languages: Code-splitting in ISO 639-3, with Gabrielle Zimmerman. Language and Linguistics in Melanesia 30.1:96-133. http://www.langlxmelanesia.com/LLM%20Vol.%2030%20No.%201_Boerger.pdf
2012. Sociological factors in Reefs-Santa Cruz language vitality: 40 years later, with Åshild Næss, Anders Vaa, Rachel Emerine and Angela Hoover. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 214: Language Use in Melanesia, M. Lynn Landweer and Peter Unseth, issue editors. IJSL 214:111-152. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2012-0023
2011. A Proto-Oceanic passive? Evidence from Bola and Natügu, with René van den Berg. Oceanic Linguistics 50.1:221-246.
2011. To BOLDly go where no one has gone before. Language Documentation and Conservation 5:208-233. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4499
2009. Trees of Santa Cruz Island and their Metaphors. Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Symposium About Language and Society—Austin, Texas Linguistics Forum 53:100-109. Austin: UT. http://salsa.ling.utexas.edu/proceedings/2009/11_TLS53_Boerger.pdf
2008. Reefs-Santa Cruz as Oceanic: evidence from the verb complex, with Åshild Næss. Oceanic Linguistics 47(1):185-212.
2007. Natqgu Literacy: Capturing Three Domains for Written Language Use. Language Documentation and Conservation, University of Hawai’i. 1(2):126-153.
1998. More than a grace note. Ethnomusicology News, Volume 7(2-3):6-10.
1997a A first look at Äiwo phonology and morpho-phonemics, with implications for Äiwo orthography.” Unpublished in-house working paper.
1997b Extending Translation Principles for Poetry and Biblical Acrostics. Notes on Translation 11(2):35-56.
1996. When C, Q, R, X, and Z are vowels: an informal look at Natqgu orthography. Notes on Literacy 22(4):39-44.
1987 On reconstructing voiced aspirated stops and retroflexed stops for Proto-Gypsy, Proceedings of 1986 forum of LACUS.
1984 Proto-Romanes Phonology. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin.
Natqgu Book Publications
2008. Nzryrngrkxtr Kc Ate, Ruth x Sam/The Later Holy Writings, Ruth and Psalms, 900 pages.
2005. Natqgu-English Diglot spelling dictionary.
2004. Buk Kc Kai Mz Natqgu/The First Book for Natqgu, (alphabet primer), editor.
2002. Be Kang Kqlu Mz Natqgu/Many Stories in Natqgu (graded reader with 43 stories and essays).
1996. Six illustrated easy readers in Natqgu.
1990. Buk ngö Be Nëyö Më Natügu/Book of Stories Written in Natqgu.
Presentations
2017. Rapid Word Collection, dictionary production, and community well-being. E-poster presented at ICLDC5. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/41988
2013. A pesky particle in Natügu: How many (–/=)ngö(–/=) morphemes and functions are there? Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Oceanic Linguistics, Newcastle, Australia February 2013.
1986. “Rephonemicization before ENG: the little Texas vowel shift.” LASSO.
1984. “On reconstructing two words for ‘foot’ in Proto-Romanes.” SALA.
Areas of Interest
• historical & comparative – Oceanic & Indo-European, History of the English language
• structure of Natqgu
• interface of linguistics and literature – translating poetry
• language and culture documentation
Other
2019 Inducted as a Fellow of the Pike Center for Integrative Scholarship
2015 12-month Documenting Endangered Languages Fellowship – Natqgu Dictionary & Legacy Texts
2010 12-month Documenting Endangered Languages Fellowship – Natqgu Grammar
1986 Best paper by an untenured linguist at LACUS conference – “On reconstructing voiced aspirated stops and retroflexed stops for Proto-Gypsy”