australias original languages

[withdrawl clinic]

i'm currently reading r m w dixon's book australias original languages, and find it an excellent read!

i would also recomand bruce pascoe's black emu book.

 

i often state, that in reality things often are 180 degree, the opposite from what the collective mind suggests.

for example : street drugs are more dangerous than prescription drugs.

or the best way to regulate a water way is by a straight line and reinforced banks.

 

i just start to understand, that indegious languages are, very sophisticated, and extreemly precise,

and even feature a different form of speaking, if the mother in law is in hearing distance, as a means of respect.

 

it was always my dream to learn a native language, but my library search revealed no sources.

there is "audio" for every language of this world but none of the country, most of us live in.

this is a shame!

 

 

[-RC-]

4 hours ago, withdrawl clinic said:

i'm currently reading r m w dixon's book australias original languages, and find it an excellent read!

i would also recomand bruce pascoe's black emu book.

 

 

Pascoe's Dark Emu, referring to the astronomical emu form has a follow up book, Young Dark Emu, for the younger audience.

 

Here's a link to some Sunny Coast Gubbi Gubbi mate:

https://gubbigubbidyungungoo.com/gubbi-gubbi-language/

 

Enjoy!

 

[nothinghead]

hey mate because there are so many first languages of australia and they are spoken by so few people resources can be difficult to find.

 

but they are out there. you could start by checking the Gambay language map and suss out which language you are interested in learning. then have a look at the resources on www.firstlanguages.org.au, the 'language legends' will let you listen to more examples of different languages. if your local library doesn't have any resources on the language you want to learn, see whether the extended library network can transfer some materials from another library for you. if you're super keen there are online courses from uni's and that.

[teamwhy]

there is a good fiction book that has a bit of language in it that's worth a read or listen. The Yield by Tara June Winch. Listening is good cos you get to hear the word for real and not try pronounce them yourself. 

sign language was a pretty big part of some community's too.  

[Cubism]

Can you get in touch with some local elders or community organisations? I remember hearing there's some Noongar language stuff going on here in the west. Maybe there's something near you? Or maybe check out the linguistics department at a local uni to point you in the right direction? There's one guy at UWA I know of who's been working with the Arrente people in Central Australia for decades. Might be worth a try?