July 14, 2016

Dr. Elaine O. Chaika, professor emerita of English and a linguistics scholar

Dr. . Elaine O. Chaika, Providence College professor emerita of English who was renowned for her writing on language and schizophrenia, died on May 1, 2016. A Providence resident, she was 81.

Elaine O. Chaika professor emerita of English

Dr. Chaika was among the first group of women professors to teach at the College and was the first woman to achieve the rank of professor at PC. She began teaching at PC in January 1971 as an instructor of English 101 and was named assistant professor of linguistics later that year. She was promoted to associate professor in 1975 and to professor in 1980.

Admired for her energy and thorough preparation as a teacher, she was an expert in linguistics and respected for her research and writing in the science of language, particularly schizophrenic speech. Throughout her career, she presented papers and contributed scholarly writings in journals and elsewhere.

Her book, Language: the Social Mirror, which was first published in 1982 and updated several times, was a textbook used in classrooms. The textbook was her most influential publication, said her colleague, Dr. Bruce E. Graver, professor of English and department chair.

“That work exemplifies Elaine’s approach as a teacher and scholar: the two were one, and her achievement as both was of the first rate,” he said.

Dr. Chaika, who served as director of the College’s Center for Teaching Excellence from 1999 to 2003, was a professional in every sense of the word, emphasized Graver.

“She was a meticulous and inspired teacher, always worrying about whether she could have done something better,” he said. “Her students were uniform in praising her but never suggested she was, shall we say, easy. In fact, she expected the highest standards of herself, from her colleagues, and from her students.”

Dr. Chaika’s love for language and writing continued after she retired from PC in 2008. She wrote a blog until shortly before her death. Her entertaining style covered a range of language and non-academic topics, such as accents, grammar, and “bad English,” and dogs and their descendants. One of her greatest joys, according to colleagues and friends, was writing her first non-academic title, Humans, Dogs, and Civilization (BookBaby). It was published last year. The book combines Dr. Chaika’s experiences, observations, and research on the evolution of dogs.

“I’ve always had dogs, and I’ve always noticed the things they did that supposedly dogs can’t or don’t do,” she said in a review in The Providence Journal in January 2015. “For years, I’ve been reading academic articles and books on them. So, after I retired, I decided to write about dogs and my experiences with them. But I didn’t want to write another scholarly book. I wanted to write about the dogs I’ve had …”

“A brilliant linguist”
Dr. Jane Lunin Perel ’15Hon., PC professor emerita of English and of women’s studies, who retired in 2014, said Dr. Chaika was a mentor to her. The late professor was “enthralled” by teaching and “totally passionate over language and the synthesis of large ideas,” said Perel, who called her “a brilliant linguist.”

“The College has lost a truly original thinker and a dynamic scholar and teacher whose capacity for argumentation was boundless. I knew Elaine for 44 years and was constantly energized by her work, writing, and interests,” said Perel, who was a founder and director of the College’s Women’s Studies Program.

Perel recalled turning to Dr. Chaika for advice when the two were young faculty members in the Department of English in the early 1970s. The department chair asked Perel to serve as secretary and to provide coffee at departmental meetings. After several meetings, Perel became annoyed at the practices and asked Dr. Chaika what she should do.

Dr. Chaika advised Perel to speak her feelings truthfully. At the next department meeting, Perel spoke up, saying she felt the secretary’s role should be handled on a revolving basis among department members and that everyone should get their own refreshments. The department chair admitted he hadn’t considered that view. Members took a vote on Perel’s motion and unanimously agreed with her. She credited Dr. Chaika with helping her see the importance of speaking the truth no matter what the circumstance.

Perel added that Dr. Chaika and her late husband, William Y. Chaika, Esq. ’58, who died less than three months after Dr. Chaika’s passing, raised “a wonderful family.” In addition to bringing up their three sons, they adopted one of their granddaughters and raised her from the time she was a young girl.

Born in Milford, Mass., Dr. Chaika was educated in Providence public schools. She graduated from Rhode Island College in 1960 and earned a master’s degree in English and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Brown University in 1965 and 1972, respectively.

Dr. Chaika was a member of the Linguistic Society of America, the American Dialect Society, and the New England Child Language Association. Among her hobbies, she enjoyed traveling, cooking, gardening, and animals.

Dr. Chaika is survived by her sons, David E. “Dan” Chaika ’84 and Eric A. Chaika; and five grandchildren. She was the mother of the late Jeremy D. Chaika.

A memorial service for Dr. Chaika was held on May 6 in the Redwood Chapel of Swan Point Cemetery, Providence.