The Languages of AustraliaDescribed by Ken Hale as 'nothing less than a masterpiece' and by P. H. Matthews as 'absolutely clear, astonishingly complete, factually fascinating', The Languages of Australia (first published in 1980 and now reissued) was a landmark in Australian linguistics. This pioneering work of synthesis covered more than two hundred Aboriginal languages, and stimulated the next generation of scholarship in the field. The author's subsequent search for an overarching theoretical model to explain the unusual properties of Australian languages finally led him to adopt a 'punctuated equilibrium' model of language development. Dixon proposed this in The Rise and Fall of Languages (1997), which provided the framework for his major work Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development (2002). The Languages of Australia is still sought after, however, as a benchmark in the discipline and because its first four chapters provide a valuable non-technical introduction that does not appear in the 2002 volume. |
Contents
Tribe and language | 23 |
Speech and song styles | 47 |
The role of language in Aboriginal Australian society today | 69 |
Vocabulary | 97 |
Phonology | 125 |
Phonological change | 195 |
Classification of Australian languages | 220 |
Word classes | 266 |
Nouns | 292 |
Pronouns | 327 |
Verbs | 378 |
Syntax | 438 |
Summary | 467 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal Australians adjective allomorphs allophones antipassive apical Arnhem Land articulation Australian languages avoidance style bound pronominal C₁ Canberra Cape York clause clitics clusters cognate conjugation marker consonant continent contrast corresponding dative derivational affix Dhalandji dialect distinct Dyirbal English ergative examples final function genetic genitive grammatical Gumbaynggir Guugu Yimidhirr Hale imperative inflection initial instance intransitive involve Jalŋuy Jirrbal Kalkatungu laminal lexeme lexical linguistic locative long vowel marking Mbabaram modern languages monosyllabic roots nasal neighbouring Ngiyambaa nominal nonPN languages Notes noun Nyawaygi occur original pattern peripheral person phoneme phonological phonological changes phonotactic Pintupi Pitta-Pitta polysyllabic prefixing pronouns Queensland refer reflexive Rembarrnga rhotic semantic semi-vowel sentence similar single songs South Wales speakers stem stop subgroup suffix suggests syllable syntactic tongue transitive tribal tribes V₁ verb roots verbal vocabulary Walmatjari Warlpiri Warrgamay Western Desert western languages words Yidiny