1.4 Map of regions used in this handbook
Click on a region to go to the relevant page.
1. Introduction
Since the arrival of Europeans we know that there has been and there continues to be considerable movement among speakers of Aboriginal languages. Mirning speakers were taken to Carnarvon in the early 1900s and Nyungar speakers from west of Esperance were taken to New Norcia by Salvado (Brandenstein 1986). Banjima speakers moved to Onslow in the 1960s. Speakers of Western Desert languages have moved into and out of settlements like Jigalong. In addition there are speakers of Torres Strait Islander languages in Port Hedland, and speakers of many Western Australian Aboriginal languages now living in Perth.
From forced resettlement came the development of lingua francas or common languages among groups of people who traditionally spoke different languages. Dunn (1982) talks of Watjarri being the dominant language among descendents of Badimaya (and other languages) speakers. In the Pilbara, Banjima, Yindjibarndi and Nyangumarta have each spread as the main means of communication for speakers of numerous other languages. Martuwangka at Jigalong is a language formed when speakers of Kartujarra and Manjiljarra were brought in from the desert in the 1960s.
Attempts at reconstructing 'traditional' geographical boundaries of language groups must be understood in the context of this movement, and consequently identifying a particular contemporary language group with a geographical location can only be done with caution.
Much remains to be done to record and to assist the continued transmission of Aboriginal languages. While numerous cultural institutions exist to support English and other immigrant languages, there are few that recognise the importance of the indigenous languages and cultures. In presenting the information in this handbook the author hopes to show how little of this knowledge we have today, and to encourage the recording of Australia's Aboriginal language heritage.
The information presented in this handbook is based on the very little understanding that we have of the rich language situation that exists or that existed in Western Australia before the invasion of speakers of non-Aboriginal languages. There is a danger that a handbook such as this one can come to be seen as an authoritative text. It is not meant to be a definitive work describing the language situation in Western Australia. This handbook is only a guide to what little material there is available at the time of writing.
Readers should also be aware that there may be various interpretations of numbers of speakers and of locations associated with languages. This handbook relies on written accounts of researchers who have worked with Aboriginal people. Written records do not allow for the same degree of interpretation as do oral accounts. An oral tradition includes within it the ability to negotiate and re-interpret information. Boundaries between language groups may have been more flexible than the maps in this book suggest. With movement of people over time, languages may also have come to be identified with new country over time.
A draft edition of this work was the result of a one-year project undertaken by the Institute of Applied Aboriginal Studies, Mt Lawley campus of WACAE. The work was funded by the Commonwealth Schools Commission. Questionnaires were sent to researchers who had worked in the area, and replies were received from Peter Austin, Carl-Georg von Brandenstein, Wilf Douglas, Alan Dench, Bill Edwards, Brian and Helen Geytenbeek, Amee Glass, Dorothy Hackett, Ken Hale, John Hobson, Joyce Hudson, Bill Langlands, Bernard Lefort, Lee Sackett, and Janet Sharp.
Comments and suggestions on the draft were received and, where appropriate, were included in this edition. Further research has also ensured a more comprehensive bibliography in this edition of the Handbook. This edition has been partly funded by the State Government of Western Australia through the Department for the Arts and the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority, and has been supported by the Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre.
The format is modelled on the Sourcebook for Central Australian languages (Menning & Nash 1981, Institute for Aboriginal Development, Alice Springs) and the Handbook of Kimberley languages (McGregor 1988, Pacific Linguistics, Canberra), from which much of the information for the Pintupi, Kukatja and Walmajarri section is drawn.
I would like to thank the Kimberley Language Resource Centre, Bill McGregor, Professor Bob Dixon and Frances Morphy, Sue Reaburn, staff of the Battye Library, Fiona Walsh, John Mason and the staff of the AIATSIS library and the many people who have provided information and copies of their research notes, there are too many to mention each of them, but their contribution has been invaluable. Special thanks to Peter Austin, Carl-Georg von Brandenstein, Mark Clendon, Alan Dench, Tamsin Donaldson, Wilf Douglas, Amee Glass, Brian Geytenbeek, Joyce Hudson and Janet Sharp for their critical comments on early drafts of this handbook which have resulted in a number of improvements. Any inaccuracies that remain are of course the responsibility of the compiler.
AAB....................Australian Aborigines Branch
ABED....................Aboriginal Education Branch
AIAS....................Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (now AIATSIS)
AIATSIS....................Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
ALS....................Australian Linguistic Society
ANL....................National Library of Australia
ANU....................Australian National University
ASEDA....................Aboriginal Studies Electronic Data Archive (AIATSIS)
ATEP....................Aboriginal Teacher Education Programme (WACAE)
BA ....................Bachelor of Arts
BA (Hons)....................Bachelor of Arts Honours degree
Bat....................Battye Library (WA State Library)
CALW.................... Certificate in Aboriginal Language Work
IAD....................Institute for Aboriginal Development (see section 3.3)
IAAS.................... Institute of Applied Aboriginal Studies
KLRC....................Kimberley Language Resource Centre (see section 3.3)
LTU....................La Trobe University
MA....................Master of Arts
Mitchell....................Mitchell Library (NSW State Library)
ms....................manuscript (usually handwritten or copy of handwriting)
NCEF....................Nomads Charitable and Educational Foundation
n.d.....................no date
PALC....................Wangka Maya, Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre
p.c.....................personal communication
PhD....................Doctor of Philosophy
pMs....................pamphlet manuscript held by the AIATSIS
pt(s)....................part(s)
SACAE....................South Australian College of Advanced Education
SAL....................School of Australian Linguistics (see section 3.3)
SIL....................Summer Institute of Linguistics (see section 3.3)
ts....................typescript (anything that is typed)
UAM....................United Aborigines Mission
UWA....................University of Western Australia
Vol.....................Volume
WAALA....................Western Australian Aboriginal Languages Association
WACAE....................Western Australian College of Advanced Education
WBT....................Wycliffe Bible Translators
1.4 Map of regions used in this handbook
Click on a region to go to the relevant page.
Typically the languages of Western Australia include bilabial, alveolar, retroflex, palatal and velar stops. Languages of the desert typically do not have a dental series (but see Trimmer 1983a for a discussion on this issue). Languages of the western Pilbara include a dental series of stops. The dental glide [yh] occurs in Yindjibarndi (and perhaps in the Kimberley language Unggumi (McGregor p.c.)), but younger speakers are using the laminal [lh] in its place.
1.5.1 Pronunciation guide
A guide to pronouncing and spelling Aboriginal sounds is presented below, it covers the symbols used in most Western Australian Aboriginal languages. Note that some of the sounds are represented by two letters, just as 'sh' or 'th' each represent one sound in English. Note also that in words like parna the 'rn' is one sound, and the 'r' does not serve to lengthen the preceding vowel.
dj/j/tj similar to the j of jam, or to the ch of chill, in some languages this sound is more like the d of dew
k/g similar to the k of skin, or to the g of girl
l similar to the English l of long (not usually like the l of bull)
lh English has no equivalent sound; lh is like a thick l sound made by ensuring the blade or front part of the tongue just behind the tip touches the back of the upper teeth
ly this sounds a bit like the lli of million, and is almost identical with the Spanish ll of llave 'key'
m same as in English, e.g. man
n similar to English n as in never
ng similar to the ng of sing, but not like the ng of finger (the ng in Aboriginal languages often comes at the beginning of words, which it does not do in English)
nh there is no equivalent sound in English; this sounds to the English speaker just like the n of nothing, but the blade or front part of the tongue just behind the tip touches the back of the upper teeth
ny similar to ni of onion, and the ny of canyon
p/b similar to the p of spin, or to the b of bin (in some languages the p sound is the more common, while in other languages, the b predominates)
r/r this letter is normally pronounced like the r of run, even at the end of words (as in many Americans' pronunciation of car ).
rl/l there is no equivalent in English; this sounds like English l, but is pronounced with the tip of the tongue bent further back in the mouth
rn/n there is no equivalent in English; this sounds like English n, but is pronounced with the tongue tip bent further back in the mouth
r similar to the tt of butter when spoken quickly; this letter is never pronounced like the r of run (sometimes the rr is 'rolled' like the r sound of Scottish English.
rt/t/rd there is no equivalent sound in English; this sounds like the English t or d, but is pronounced with the tongue tip bent back in the mouth
t/d similar to the t of stick, or the d of din (depending on the language, the t or the d pronunciation predominates)
th to most English speakers this sounds like the ordinary English t or d, but is pronounced more like the English th of thing (it is made by ensuring the blade or front part of the tongue just behind the tip touches the back of the upper teeth)
w usually pronounced as the w of west, but sometimes is not pronounced before the vowel u (e.g.Wudjari may be pronounced like Udjari)
y usually pronounced like y of yes, but is sometimes not heard before the i-vowel (e.g. Yindjibarndi is often heard as if it started with the vowel sound i )
yh there is nothing like this sound in English, and it occurs in only one language in Western Australia (it sounds like a y said with your tongue between your teeth)
The vowel sounds that are needed to write most Western Australian Aboriginal languages are the following:
i as in bin, tin (NOT as in side )
ii as in peat
a as in but (NOT as in mate or mat)
aa as in father
u as in put (NOT as in mule or but )
uu as in put (but twice as long)
And for Nyungar languages the following letters are needed:
e as in pet
o as in pot
Word stress is usually on the first syllable, so it is the first part of the word that sounds the loudest. For example, in the English word 'radio', stress occurs on the first part of the word 'radio', in 'retire' stress occurs in the second part of the word. In English, varying the placing of stress in a word can change the word's meaning. For example, permit is a noun, like a driving permit, but permit is a verb, (i.e. Do you permit me to come in?).
