Cirrus@Austlit

'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)

'A companion volume to Bruce Moore's highly-successful Speaking Our Language, this major new work examines Australian words from two main perspectives: the histories of particular words, and the history of thematically linked words. This is a collection of words that have interesting, challenging and often disputed stories to be told about their origins. Designed to be read from beginning to end, or dipped into at any of the headwords, What's Their Story? is the ideal reference for all lovers of our language.

'What's Their Story? grew out of the research of the Australian National Dictionary Centre (ANDC) at the Australian National University. The Centre is named after the Australian National Dictionary, which was first published in 1988, and which includes some 10,000 Australian words and meanings.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Speaking our Language is written for people who want to know where Australian English came from, what the forces were that moulded it, why it takes its present form, and where it is going.

'The sub-title of this book, The Story of Australian English, derives in part from the chronological story that the book traces: the story begins with Joseph Banks and Captain James Cook in 1770, and it continues to the present day, when Australian English is firmly established as the natural and national language of Australia. It is a 'story' in another sense as well: the story of the development of Australian English is inextricably intertwined with the stories of Australian history and culture, and of the development of Australian identity.' (Publisher's blurb)