Australia's Original Languages: An Introduction

by R.M.W. Dixon

When Captain Cook landed at Botany Bay, about 250 distinct languages were spoken across the continent. Yet Australian Indigenous languages actually share many common features. Bob Dixon has been working with elders to research Australian languages for half a century, and he draws on this deep experience to outline the common features. He provides a straightforward introduction to the sounds, word building, and wide-ranging vocabulary of Indigenous languages, and highlights distinctive grammatical features. He explains how language is related to culture, including kinship relationships, gender systems, and naming conventions. With examples from more than 30 languages and anecdotes illustrating language use, and avoiding technical terms, Australia's Original Languages is the indispensable starting point for anyone interested in learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait languages.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Australia, Indigenous, History

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2019

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.

Reviews

[Andrew Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief and fascinating introduction to the 250 languages of Australia's first nations people.

While there are some formal language elements about word and sentence structure (bringing back memories of conjugating verbs in French class), this book is largely designed for people interested in the history, use and principles of the language. As such, it should appeal to a wide audience.

The book also fits one of my favourite niche-genre's of books: Scholars at the end of their career looking back and seeking to outline the nature and significance of their field. Though the work is mainly an introduction to the languages, you also get a sense from Dixon of the value of the languages and how he became interested in, and approached their study.

Wisely, this is a short book. It provides the introduction it promises, while offering references if you want to go further. Honestly, after 200 pages I was happy to have finished. Language structure is not my thing, but as a small element of a much larger story about the history and nature of Australia's first nation's people, this is a worthwhile read.

[Monique]

A good introduction to Aboriginal languages and how they work. If you studied aboriginal linguistics at uni, like I did, you’ll probably find this covers familiar territory. I found this too detailed in the particular features of various aboriginal languages and decided not to finish it.

For people who are interested in languages but don’t know a lot about Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait languages.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, informative book giving a great introduction to the overarching features and variety within some of the languages of the First Nations peoples of Australia. The explanation of how culture and economy can be understood through language was very interesting, as was the introduction to the kin system and avoidance languages. I actually bought this book for my grandma and she also loved it!

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating overview of Australian languages, and some history thrown in for good measure. Definitely intended for a non-linguist audience, very accessible. A well structured defence against the argument that Indigenous languages are somehow simpler than European ones.

[Gary Reger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dixon is the dean of linguists who study the indigenous languages of Australia. In Australia' Original Languages he offers a marvelous, concise, and clearly written overview of the structure and social functions this myriad of languages serve. Lots of examples illustrate features baffling to English speakers, like multiple genders, classifiers (called "determinatives" in some other languages), and agglutinative system of pre- and post-fixes that reminds me a bit of Sumerian (another very strange language from an English-speaker's point of view; both it and some Australian are also ergative, which, however, Dixon simply mentions without explanation).

One of Dixon's chief aims is to disabuse notions that Indigenous languages are "primitive" or "simple." In this he succeeds in spades. No one will come away from even a cursory reading without a new, awe-struck admiration for the complexities and subtleties of the languages of the original inhabitants of Oz.

Obviously a short book like this cannot engage with its subject except on a very introductory level. (Ergatism, anyone?) A bibliography will lead the curious deeper into the rich research, and Dixon provides brief accounts at the end of the sources on which each chapter rests. A good deal of the illustrative material, however, comes from Dyirbal, the language Dixon knows best, having studied it with a handful of remaining fluent native speakers starting in 1963.

If I have any criticism--and it is minor indeed--it would be that, while he carefully explains everything else, assuming a linguistically naive reader, he deploys the technical terms that linguists use to classify sounds--terms like lamino-dental and lamino-palatal--without the slightest pause to parse them. Even readers who know what a scapula is--he notes the common term, shoulder-blade, for those who may not--are very unlikely to know that a laminal consonant is produced with the blade of the tongue, with or without dental contact.

[Pauline O'Shannessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, written in super accessible style with fascinating insights.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Besides the political chapter, which I don't think is warranted and is annoying. The book is a good introduction to local languages. I have read his other books which provide much more insight.