Words of Our Country: Yidiny - The Aboriginal Language of the Cairns - Yarrabah Region

by R.M.W. Dixon

This book explores an Aboriginal lifestyle through its words. For many thousands of years the Yidiny language was spoken by the Aborigines of the Cairns-Atherton Tablelands region. Today the people and the words are all but extinct. Here, in tracking this sophisticated language, linguist R.M.W. (Bob) Dixon records its last speakers. The language and way of life are illustrated by twenty-four stories in both Yidiny and English translation. Aboriginal place names are listed along with their origins, and the book includes a clearly organised vocabulary of words, and Yidiny and English indexes. The vocabulary is ordered into fields of meaning (such as parts of the body, kin terms, animals, and verbs of motion) and is cross-referenced to specific words in the story section. The book provides vital information on the history of the region, dialect differences and the extraordinary "mother-in-law" language which distinguished this ancient and rich culture.

Paperback

Published December 1, 2015

About the author

Robert Malcolm Ward Dixon is a Professor of Linguistics in the College of Arts, Society, and Education and The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Queensland. He is also Deputy Director of The Language and Culture Research Centre at JCU.