Doris Aileen Bartholomew (born 1930) is an American linguist whose published research specialises in the lexicography

Lexicography

Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....

, historical and descriptive linguistics for indigenous languages in Mexico, in particular for Oto-Manguean languages

Oto-Manguean languages

Oto-Manguean languages are a large family comprising several families of Native American languages. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of the family, which is now extinct, was spoken as far south as Nicaragua and Costa Rica.The...

. Bartholomew's extensive publications on Mesoamerican languages

Mesoamerican languages

Mesoamerican languages are the languages indigenous to the Mesoamerican cultural area, which covers southern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The area is characterized by extensive linguistic diversity containing several hundred different languages and...

 span five decades of active research. She has also published extensively on Zapotecan languages

Zapotecan languages

The Zapotecan languages are a group of related Oto-Manguean languages which descend from the common proto-Zapotecan language spoken by the Zapotec people during the era of the dominance of Monte Albán....

 and the Otomi language

Otomi language

Otomi is an Oto-Manguean language and one of the indigenous languages of Mexico, spoken by approximately 240,000 indigenous Otomi people in the central altiplano region of Mexico. The language is spoken in many different dialects, some of which are not mutually intelligible, therefore it is in...

. She has been editor-in-chief and publications director for the Instituto Lingüístico de Verano

Instituto Lingüístico de Verano

The Instituto Lingüístico de Verano is a non-profit organization based in Peru that serves as the branch affiliated with SIL International...

 (ILV), the affiliate body incorporated in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 for SIL International

SIL International

SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...

.

Studies and academic career

As an undergraduate Bartholomew attended Columbia Bible College in Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

, from where she graduated in 1952. Her doctorate studies were undertaken at the University of Chicago, obtaining her PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in 1965. Her doctoral dissertation concerned the reconstruction and historical linguistics

Historical linguistics

Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...

 of the Oto-Pamean languages

Oto-Pamean languages

The Oto-Pamean languages are a branch of the Oto-Manguean languages of central Mexico that includes are half a dozen languages, or more accurately dialect clusters:*Otomian: Otomi, Mazahua*Matlatzinca*Pamean*Chichimeca...

.

Bartholomew conducted linguistic fieldwork among several different indigenous Mexican language communities, while working as publications coordinator for ILV's bilingual dictionary unit. She also lectured part-time in linguistics at El Colegio de México

El Colegio de México

El Colegio de México, A.C. is a prestigious Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in the social sciences and the humanities...

.

Partial bibliography

Bartholomew's published works include:

BARTHOLOMEW, DORIS (1963). "The Reconstruction of Otopamean (Mexico)" (Ph.D. diss.,. University of Chicago, 1965)

External links

• List of Bartholomew's works, at Ethnologue
  Ethnologue
  Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
  
  by SIL International
  SIL International
  SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...