'This introduction to the languages of Aboriginal Australia provides a straightforward guide to their sound structure, word building and wide-ranging vocabulary, and highlights distinctive grammatical features. It also explains how language is related to culture including kinship relationships, gender systems and naming conventions. With examples from over thirty languages and anecdotes illustrating language use, it is the indispensable starting point for anyone interested in Aboriginal languages.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Table of Contents
1 Many distinct languages
2 Each language has several dialects
3 Language doing its job
4 Nothing primitive here
5 Knowing who your relations are
6 Who are you talking to?
7 Getting your tongue around it
8 Putting the bits together
9 Remarkable genders
10 Oodles of words
11 Are there any language links?
12 In recent times
13 The languages today
Acknowledgements
Sources and notes
References
Index
'Bob Dixon has researched Australian Indigenous languages since the 1960s, has constructed grammars of five languages, and has written numerous scholarly books and articles on Aboriginal languages. His latest book is directed at the general reader, and it springs from his frustration at what he sees as the persistent and continuing misunderstandings in the wider Australian community about the nature and history of Australia’s Indigenous languages.' (Introduction)
'Bob Dixon has researched Australian Indigenous languages since the 1960s, has constructed grammars of five languages, and has written numerous scholarly books and articles on Aboriginal languages. His latest book is directed at the general reader, and it springs from his frustration at what he sees as the persistent and continuing misunderstandings in the wider Australian community about the nature and history of Australia’s Indigenous languages.' (Introduction)
