David Nash | |
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Born | David George Nash 1951 (age 72–73) Parkes, New South Wales, Australia |
Nationality | Australian |
Education | Australian National University |
Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Occupation(s) | Linguist and anthropologist |
David George Nash (born 1951) [1] is a prominent Australian field linguist, specialising in the Aboriginal languages of Australia. Brought up in Parkes, New South Wales, he received a BA in pure mathematics from the Australian National University followed by an M.A. in Linguistics. He then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied with Ken Hale and received his PhD in linguistics in 1980. Before returning to Australia, he worked on the Lexicon Project at MIT. In 2005 he was Ken Hale Professor at the Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute. He works as a consultant for various Aboriginal organisations. He is also a Visiting Fellow of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
Nash is an expert on Warlpiri and other languages of the Northern Territory of Australia as well as on the oral history of the Aboriginal peoples of this area. In this capacity, in addition to his purely scholarly work, he has provided expert testimony regarding land claims. He is also known for his knowledge of the history of research on Australian Aboriginal languages.
The Pama–Nyungan languages are the most widespread family of Australian Aboriginal languages, containing 306 out of 400 Aboriginal languages in Australia. The name "Pama–Nyungan" is a merism: it is derived from the two end-points of the range, the Pama languages of northeast Australia and the Nyungan languages of southwest Australia.
The Warlpiri, sometimes referred to as Yapa, are a group of Aboriginal Australians defined by their Warlpiri language, although not all still speak it. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered through their traditional land in the Northern Territory, north and west of Alice Springs. About 3,000 still speak the Warlpiri language. The word "Warlpiri" has also been romanised as Walpiri, Walbiri, Elpira, Ilpara, and Wailbri.
Kenneth Locke Hale, also known as Ken Hale, was an American linguist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studied a huge variety of previously unstudied and often endangered languages—especially indigenous languages of North America and Australia. Languages investigated by Hale include Navajo, O'odham, Warlpiri, and Ulwa.
Many Australian Aboriginal cultures have or traditionally had a manually coded language, a signed counterpart of their oral language. This appears to be connected with various speech taboos between certain kin or at particular times, such as during a mourning period for women or during initiation ceremonies for men, as was also the case with Caucasian Sign Language but not Plains Indian Sign Language, which did not involve speech taboo, or deaf sign languages, which are not encodings of oral language. There is some similarity between neighbouring groups and some contact pidgin similar to Plains Indian Sign Language in the American Great Plains.
Ngan'gi, formerly known as Ngan'gityemerri, and also known as Ngan'gikurunggurr, Moil/Moyle, Tyemeri/Tyemerri, Marityemeri, and Nordaniman, is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the Daly River region of Australiaʼs Northern Territory. There are three mutually intelligible dialects, with the two sister dialects known as Ngen'giwumirri and Ngan'gimerri.
Diyari or Dieri is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Diyari people in the far north of South Australia, to the east of Lake Eyre. It was studied by German Lutheran missionaries who translated Christian works into the language in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so that it developed an extensive written form. Only a few fluent speakers of Diyari remained by the early 21st century, but a dictionary and grammar of the language was produced by linguist Peter K. Austin, and there is a project under way to teach it in schools.
Arrernte or Aranda, or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte, is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are Arunta or Arrarnta, and all of the dialects have multiple other names.
The Warumungu are a group of Aboriginal Australians of the Northern Territory. Today, Warumungu are mainly concentrated in the region of Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
The Warumungu language is spoken by the Warumungu people in Australia's Northern Territory. In addition to spoken language, the Warumungu have a highly developed sign language.
Arandic is a family of Australian Aboriginal languages consisting of several languages or dialect clusters, including the Arrernte group, Lower Arrernte, Pertame language and Kaytetye.
The Anmatyerr, also spelt Anmatyerre, Anmatjera, Anmatjirra, Amatjere and other variations) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, who speak one of the Upper Arrernte languages.
The Andegerebinha language, also known as Andegerebenha, Andigibinha, Antekerrepenhe and Antekerrepinhe, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory, specifically of the Upper Arrernte language group. It was spoken around the Hay River and Pituri Creek area. It was spoken by only ten individuals in 1981, five in 2005, and in the 2016 census there were no fluent speakers of the language, so is now classified as dormant.
Wanggamala, also spelt Wanggamanha, Wangkamahdla, Wangkamadla, Wangkamanha, Wangkamana, Wonkamala, Wongkamala, Wonkamudla, and other variants, is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of the Pama–Nyungan family, previously spoken in the Northern Territory around Hay River and to the south of the Andegerebinha-speaking area.
Wamin, also known as Agwamin or Ewamian, is an Australian Aboriginal language of North Queensland spoken by the Ewamian people. Wamin was traditionally spoken in the Etheridge region, in the areas around Einasliegh, Georgetown, and Mount Surprise.
Warlmanpa Sign Language is a highly developed Australian Aboriginal sign language used by the Warlmanpa people of northern Australia
Mary Laughren is an Australian linguist, known for her research on Australian Aboriginal languages. As of April 2018, Laughren is an Honorary Research Senior Fellow at the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland.
Jane Simpson is an Australian linguist and professor emerita at Australian National University.
The Ewamian or Agwamin people are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland.
Ali Curung is an Indigenous Australian community in the Barkly Region of the Northern Territory. The community is located 170 km (106 mi) south of Tennant Creek, and 378 km (235 mi) north of Alice Springs. At the 2021 census, the community had a population of 394.
Maurice Jupurrurla Luther MBE was a Warlpiri school teacher, bilingual education advocate, artist and community leader in the community of Lajamanu in the Northern Territory