(written by Albert Bickford <[email protected]>)

We regret to report the death of Michael Cahill, a lifetime member of the Linguistic Society of America, from a recently-diagnosed advanced and aggressive cancer.

Mike began his linguistic career in Ghana, where he lived and worked with speakers of the Kɔnni language. He earned a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Ohio State University (1999). His primary research interests were in Kɔnni, African languages and phonology, especially tone, ATR vowel harmony and labialvelar stops. In later years, he developed a strong interest in orthography development for previously unwritten languages, including co-editing with Keren Rice a 2014 volume of papers entitled Developing Orthographies for Unwritten Languages that developed out of an LSA symposium. He gathered an extensive set of resources on orthography issues and made them freely available to language communities (https://www.sil.org/orthography).

At the time of his death, Mike was the International Orthography Services Coordinator and a Senior Linguistics Consultant for SIL International, as well as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Dallas International University. He previously served as Editor-in-Chief of SIL's Global Publishing Services (2010-2015), its International Linguistics Coordinator (1999-2010), and in several positions in the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (1983-1993).

Mike served on several LSA committees, including the Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation and the Ethics Committee. He attended the LSA annual meeting regularly where he was often seen at SIL International's book table.

His gentle, friendly and supportive manner is remembered by all who knew him.

Mike is survived by his wife, Virginia, and three grown children.

Professional page: https://www.sil.org/biography/mike-cahill
Publications listed in SIL's Language and Culture Archives: https://www.sil.org/resources/search/contributor/cahill-michael

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
Phonetics
Phonology
Writing Systems

Subject Language(s): Konni (kma)

Language Family(ies): Gur