1. The languages of Australia in linguistic research: context and issues

Abstract

The languages of Australia in linguistic research: context and issues 1 Background on the Indigenous languages of Australia At the time of colonisation in the late 18 th century, Australia was home to 700-800 language varieties, distributed across the continent (and including Tasmania and the Torres Strait Islands), which can be grouped into more than 250 distinct languages, some of which include a number of dialects.¹ , ² These language varieties were spoken across a population of around one million people (e.g. Butlin 1983), which indicates the enormous linguistic diversity of Indigenous Australia. In many cases small populations (e.g. 40-50 people) maintained distinctive language varieties, and the largest populations speaking a single language variety were probably no bigger than 3000-4000 people. Linguistic diversity was not necessarily an impediment to communication, however, since Indigenous societies were frequently highly multilingual, with an individual oft en speaking up to 4-6 languages of the surrounding area. Linguistic diversity, in fact, was valued for its indexical relationship to identity and group membership (Evans 2007). The relationship between language and identity is strong for all human societies, but is particularly so in Indigenous Australia, where language is oft en related directly to the land. As Rumsey (1993, 2005) explains, in Australia there is a direct relationship between a language and a tract of land; in creation myths it is very common for the ancestors to be described as passing across the land instilling diff erent languages into diff erent areas as they go (Evans 2007: 20). People are then connected to a particular tract of land and, through that connection, to the language associated with that place. Thus the Wambaya people are Wambaya because they are linked to places which are associated with the Wambaya language, and therefore speak Wambaya (see Rumsey 1993, 2005 for discussion). This ideology leads to an important distinction between speaking a language and "owning" a language. A person will "own" the language of the land to which her clan, family or group is connected, even if she doesn't speak it. 1 We wish to extend our thanks to Jane Simpson for reading an earlier version of this chapter and providing many suggestions and comments that have led to substantial improvements in coverage and content. 2 The number of languages cited in the literature generally ranges from 250-300. Recent work by Claire Bowern (NSF grant 0844550) suggests that the figure might be closer to 350 (270 Pama-Nyungan, and 80-90 non-Pama-Nyungan (Claire Bowern pers. comm. 28/11/13)).

Indigenous Language Ecologies framework

“…From an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural point of view, traditional languages have an intrinsic connection to tracts of land and to the people of that land (Koch & Nordlinger 2014;Rumsey 1993Rumsey , 2018. Accordingly, a traditional language belonging to a particular area is always present in the land, and First Peoples identify through their land and language, enduringly, regardless of the extent to which a specific language is spoken nowadays.…”

Remote Indigenous education and translanguaging

“…(Guardian newspaper, 26 th November 2008) These sentiments have been echoed multiple times by Indigenous Australians in relation to their land and culture. At the time of invasion, Australia boasted over 250 separate Indigenous languages (Koch & Nordlinger, 2014), but today many are spoken only by the older generation (Marmion, Obata, & Troy, 2014) and others are no longer spoken at all. Languages have also undergone, or are undergoing, change resulting in new creole varieties emerging.…”

The impact of Marfan syndrome on an Aboriginal Australian family: ‘I don’t like it as much as I don’t like cancer’

“…As some individuals have ancestors from both groups, the term First Australians is used when referring to both groups collectively. First Australians are the oldest living culture, dating back between 40,000 and 60,000 years (Heupink et al., 2016), and the richness and diversity of their culture were evidenced by the 250–300 distinct Indigenous languages and 800 dialects present at the time of the European invasion in 1788 (Koch & Nordlinger, 2014). Colonization negatively impacted every aspect of First Australian peoples’ lives, and the effects of the historical trauma are evident today in all areas of health, social, economic, and cultural life (Smallwood et al., 2021).…”