Katana VentraIP

Australian Aboriginal languages

The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250[1] (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intelligible varieties) up to possibly 363.[2] The Indigenous languages of Australia comprise numerous language families and isolates, perhaps as many as 13, spoken by the Indigenous peoples of mainland Australia and a few nearby islands.[3] The relationships between the language families are not clear at present although there are proposals to link some into larger groupings. Despite this uncertainty, the Indigenous Australian languages are collectively covered by the technical term "Australian languages",[4] or the "Australian family".[a]

"Australian languages" redirects here. For all the languages of Australia, see Languages of Australia.

The term can include both Tasmanian languages and the Western Torres Strait language,[6] but the genetic relationship to the mainland Australian languages of the former is unknown,[7] while the latter is Pama–Nyungan, though it shares features with the neighbouring Papuan, Eastern Trans-Fly languages, in particular Meriam Mir of the Torres Strait Islands, as well as the Papuan Tip Austronesian languages.[8] Most Australian languages belong to the widespread Pama–Nyungan family, while the remainder are classified as "non-Pama–Nyungan", which is a term of convenience that does not imply a genealogical relationship.


In the late 18th century there were more than 250 distinct First Nations Peoples social groupings and a similar number of languages or varieties.[6] The status and knowledge of Aboriginal languages today varies greatly. Many languages became extinct with settlement as the encroachment of colonial society broke up Indigenous cultures. For some of these languages, few records exist for vocabulary and grammar. At the start of the 21st century, fewer than 150 Aboriginal languages remained in daily use,[9] with the majority being highly endangered. In 2020, 90 per cent of the barely more than 100 languages still spoken are considered endangered.[10] Thirteen languages are still being transmitted to children.[11] The surviving languages are located in the most isolated areas. Of the five least endangered Western Australian Aboriginal languages, four belong to the Western Desert grouping of the Central and Great Victoria Desert.


Yolŋu languages from north-east Arnhem Land are also currently learned by children. Bilingual education is being used successfully in some communities. Seven of the most widely spoken Australian languages, such as Warlpiri, Murrinh-patha and Tiwi, retain between 1,000 and 3,000 speakers.[12] Some Indigenous communities and linguists show support for learning programmes either for language revival proper or for only "post-vernacular maintenance" (Indigenous communities having the opportunity to learn some words and concepts related to the lost language).[13]

New South Wales

Yugambeh-Bundjalung

South Australia

Ngarrindjeri

Queensland

Kuku Yalanji

Western Australia

Noongar

Northern Territory

Luritja

The National Indigenous Languages Survey is a regular Australia-wide survey of the status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages[14] conducted in 2005,[15] 2014[16] and 2019.[14]


Languages with more than 100 speakers:


Total 46 languages, 42,300 speakers, with 11 having only approximately 100. 11 languages have over 1,000 speakers.

Tiwi

Bunuban

Mirndi

Aboriginal Australians

Australian Aboriginal sign languages

List of Aboriginal Australian group names

List of Australian Aboriginal languages

List of Aboriginal languages of New South Wales

List of Australian place names of Aboriginal origin

List of endangered languages with mobile apps

List of reduplicated Australian place names

Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages

Macro-Gunwinyguan languages

Macro-Pama–Nyungan languages

Simpson, Jane (21 January 2019). . The Conversation.

"The state of Australia's Indigenous languages – and how we can help people speak them more often"

at AIATSIS

AUSTLANG Australian Indigenous Languages Database

a guide to Aboriginal language, tribal and nation groups published by AIATSIS

Aboriginal Australia map

Aboriginal Languages of Australia

(recorded ranges; full view here

The AIATSIS map of Aboriginal Australia

as listed by Ethnologue

Languages of Australia

Report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey 2014

Finding the meaning of an Aboriginal word

Social Justice Report 2009 for more information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and policy.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner

Archived 14 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine (Northern Territory languages only)

Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages

Bowern, Claire. 2016. "Chirila: Contemporary and Historical Resources for the Indigenous Languages of Australia". Language Documentation and Conservation 10 (2016): 1–44. .

http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/?p=1002

Data relating to the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages spoken in Australia and its States and Territories.

Cultures and languages are strong, supported and flourishing

(audio recordings of 50 words in Australian Indigenous languages)

50 Words Project

Archived 23 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine (Contemporary and Historical Reconstruction in the Indigenous Languages of Australia)

CHIRILA: A database of the languages of Australia

CHIRILA, Yale Pama-Nyungan Lab