Dr. Jon Dayley holds a B.A. and M.A. in Anthropology from Idaho State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley. He taught linguistics and did research on Mayan languages in Guatemala for several years, worked as a writer and researcher for the Experiment in International Living in Vermont and Belize, and taught linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, before joining the faculty at Boise State University in 1982. Dr. Dayley's specialties include English grammar and the history of English, American Indian languages (especially Uto-Aztecan and Mayan), and Creole languages. He has linguistic fieldwork experience in Belize, Guatemala, Thailand, and the western United States, and has written a number of books, dictionaries, and articles on Shoshoni, Panamint Shoshone, Tz'utujil Mayan, and Belizean Creole.
Articles
Special Language in Shoshoni Poetry Songs, Report No. 12: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Conference. (2002)
The language in Shoshoni poetry songs, called newe hupia, may differ substantially from ordinary speech...
An Ethno-Historical Shoshone Narrative: Püe Nümmü Naakkanna "How We Lived Long Ago", Idaho Archaeologist (1986)
The text that follows is a narrative of reminiscences in the Shoshone language by Josephine...
Tatape Pekkappüh Sun Killer (Cottontail and the Sun): Shoshone, The Literature of Idaho: An Anthology (1986)
The following Shoshone tale, Tatape Pekkappüh "Sun Killer," also known as "Cottontail and the Sun,"...
Voice and Ergativity in Mayan Languages, Studies in Mesoamerican Linguistics. Report No. $, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages (1983)
In recent years there has been a good deal of interest in ergativity and voice...
Books
Newe Hupia: Shoshoni Poetry Songs (with Beverly Crum and Earl Crum) (2001)
This collection presents written texts of songs in Shoshoni and English, with both figurative and...
Shoshoni Texts (with Beverly Crum) (1997)
This monograph is intended as a companion volume to our earlier work, Western Shoshoni Grammar....
Diccionario Tz'utujil (1996)
El Tz'utujil es un idoma Maya hablado por alrededor de 100,000 personas en los Departamentos...
Western Shoshoni Grammar (with Bevery Crum) (1993)
This grammar is an introductory description of Western Shoshoni. It is intended for both native...
Tümpisa (Panamint) Shoshone Dictionary (1989)
This dictionary is primarily of the Death Valley variety of what has come to be...