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At the Research Unit for Indigenous Language (RUIL) we send out our Research newsletter to those people on our mailing list. People on our mailing list also receive emailed invitations to our public lectures and to other events in Melbourne.
RUIL Research Newsletter December 2022
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Newsletter September 2022
RUIL Research Newsletter September 2022
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
The Top End Language Forum
On 6-7 June 2022, 60+ delegates from 10+ Aboriginal communities in the region gathered in Darwin to discuss what they want for their languages by the end of the UNESCO International Decade of Indigenous Languages. The meeting was held entirely for and by Aboriginal community representatives, facilitated by Rarrtjiwuy Melanie Herdman. Continue reading...
Working on sign with Wangka Maya
In July Jennifer Green travelled to Port Hedland, WA, invited by Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre to work on their Wurtungu Pilbara Aboriginal Sign Language documentation project. Jennifer worked with Wangka Maya’s language team, including Yulparija Language Worker Vincent Thomas and Senior Linguist Annie Cameron. Together they made video recordings with signers/speakers of Thiinma, Warriyangka, Manyjilyjarra, Yulparija, Warnman and Nyangumarta. Continue reading...
PARADISEC visit the Cheokee Nation
The Cherokee are one of the biggest Native American groups, and there are some 3,000 speakers of the Cherokee language. As with many other indigenous languages, there is a desire for younger people to speak and pass on the language. In June PARADISEC members Marco La Rosa and RUIL Deputy Director Nick Thieberger traveled to Talehquah in Oklahoma for a week of training and developing a system for describing their existing collections. Continue reading...
Newsletter May 2022
Update: Nyingarn Project
The Nyingarn Project aims to make manuscript sources for Australian Indigenous languages available as readable and searchable online texts. The team have been building and testing ways to convert images of manuscripts to text using either Optical Character Recognition (OCR) or crowdsourced transcription data. We have tested two systems... Continue reading...
Murrinhpatha Writer's Workshop
The beginning of 2022 has seen RUIL’s Indigenous Language Support team collaborating with the Thamarrurr Youth Indigenous Corporation (TYIC) to run Murrinhpatha Writer’s Workshops in Bright. TYIC aims to improve the lives of the Indigenous people of the Thamarrurr region... Continue reading...
Akarre/Akityarre Language Project
The Arandic languages Akarre and Akityarre (Ikngerrpenhe) are spoken to the north-east of Alice Springs in communities such as Harts Range, Bonya, Atul and Alcoota. There is little documentation of Akarre and Akityarr, although a list of 50 words in this language recorded by one of the most senior knowledge holders... Continue reading...
Newsletter October 2021
Sign Language website gets a makeover
Sign languages are an important and valued part of the traditions of Australian Indigenous peoples. Sign is used by hearing signers as an alternative to speech in some circumstances, such as when hunting and during sorry business. Indigenous deaf in some communities... Continue reading...
New Decolonising Linguistics study group
About 70 people attended the first session of the decolonising linguistics study group Spinning a Better Yarn. Attendees spanned the full gamut of linguists... Continue reading...
The Dictionary of Nafsan (Vanuatu) is released
The dictionary of Nafsan (Vanuatu) by RUIL researcher Nick Thieberger and members of the Erakor community was released in September. It includes an English to Nafsan list, and maps of about 200 placenames around Erakor village in central Vanuatu. This dictionary is the result... Continue reading...
Newsletter May 2021
RUIL Research Newsletter May 2021
RUILs inaugural Leary Trust for Australian Indigenous Languages Award
The Research Unit for Indigenous Language is excited to congratulate Dharug woman Tula Wynyard as the inaugural winner of the Leary Trust for Australian Indigenous Languages Award. This award was... Continue reading...
PARADISEC celebrates 100 terabytes
This conference celebrated the digital archive PARADISEC’s collection reaching 100 terabytes. In fact, by the time the conference was run, the collection had already topped 120 terabytes and keeps growing. In 40 online presentations from... Continue reading...
Celebrating the Western Desert Verbal Arts project
Between 2012 – 2019 Ngaatjatjarra linguist Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis, Inge Kral, Jennifer Green and Jane Simpson worked together to make an enduring record of verbal arts and oral traditions from the Ngaanyatjarra Lands communities of Western Australia. The collaboration has resulted in... Continue reading...
Newsletter December 2020
RUIL Research Newsletter December 2020
50 Words Project update: NAIDOC Week and website revamp
It’s been an exciting month for the Research Unit’s 50 Words Project! Our online map now showcases 50 words in 65 Indigenous Australian languages from across the country, with more languages on the way soon. If you stop by to have a listen, you... Continue reading...
Searching for signs in the Warlpiri Sign Language Dictionary
Sign languages are an important and valued part of the traditions of Australian Indigenous peoples. Between 1978-1985 Adam Kendon worked with... Continue reading...
Sounds of the Anindilyakwa language
Anindilyakwa speakers from Groote Eylandt, NT, have been working with RUIL linguists John Mansfield, Rosey Billington and Hywel Stoakes to better understand the unique sounds of their language. John made several recordings on... Continue reading...
Newsletter October 2020
RUIL Research Newsletter October 2020
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Project Milestone: 50 words in 50 languages!
RUIL’s 50 Words Project works with communities across Australia to provide words in Indigenous Australian languages through our online map which showcases Australia’s fascinating linguistic diversity. The map can be searched by language or by word... Continue reading...
The ABC's pronunciation of Aboriginal words
At the beginning of June, Tiger Webb, a language specialist with the Australian Broadcasting Commission wrote a piece for ABC online suggesting changes to the ABC pronunciation guide. The article recommended including the sounds... Continue reading...
RUIL welcome a new Research Associate
Joel Liddle Perrurle (pictured) is an Arrernte man with family ties to country in and around Alice Springs in central Australia. His mother’s family are... Continue reading...
Newsletter May 2020
RUIL Research Newsletter May 2020
Yäku ga Rirrakay (Sounds and Letters)
Jill Wigglesworth spent 10 days in Yirrkala in early March, just before COVID-19 cut off contact with communities and disrupted flights. Jill visited to work on the final stages of an app designed to teach children phonological awareness... Continue reading...
Murrinhpatha Languages in Darwin Prison
This February–March, Murrinhpatha elder Nguluyguy Margaret Perdjert, with the help of Murrinhpatha linguist Nguvudirr Jeremiah Tunmuck and RUIL member John Mansfield, trialled a new type of language activity in Darwin prison. Speakers of Aboriginal languages in northern Australia are... Continue reading...
COVID-19
Our thoughts and support are with our friends and collaborators isolated in remote communities during this time. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, especially those living in remote communities, are at greater risk from COVID-19. We fully support... Continue reading...
Newsletter December 2019
RUIL Research Newsletter December 2019
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
The Governor-General visits RUIL
In November 2019, the Governor-General of Australia His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) and Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley visited the Research Unit for Indigenous Language to learn more about the 50 Words Project. They met with RUIL members... Continue reading...
Alyawarr to English Dictionary Launch
It has been more than 25 years since the launch of the first Alyawarr dictionary (Green, 1992). On the 8th of November a new, updated, and... Continue reading...
PULiiMA 2019
RUIL team members Ruth Singer and Katie Jepson ran packed-out workshops on making good quality language recordings at PULiiMA 2019 Indigenous Languages and Technology Conference, 19th-22nd of August, in Darwin. PULiiMA is primarily attended by... Continue reading...
Newsletter September 2019
RUIL Research Newsletter September 2019
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Celebrating Duncan Leary
In May 2019, Rachel Nordlinger and Allyra Murray attended a morning tea to celebrate the lives of the late Duncan Elphinstone McBride Leary and his partner Ernest Lanz, joined by special guest Ken Wharton, a friend of both and executor to Ernest Lanz’s will. The morning tea was... Continue reading...
Nhanda Language Day
On July 2, a Nhanda Language Day was held at Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community – Aboriginal Corporation in Geraldton, WA. This event was arranged with... Continue reading...
Volunteering at Garma 2019
The Research Unit for Indigenous Language’s project officer, Allyra Murray, was one of four lucky University of Melbourne professional staff selected to volunteer at the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures, in North East Arnhem Land. Among 40... Continue reading...
Newsletter May 2019
RUIL Research Newsletter May 2019
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
RUIL celebrates IYIL2019
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2019, the United Nations' International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL2019). The overall goals of IYIL2019 are to raise awareness of Indigenous languages, for the benefit of... Continue reading...
Warruwi Indigenous Scholars present at ALW 2019
In March, RUIL had two visitors from Warruwi Community, Arnhem Land, as part of the RUIL Indigenous Scholars scheme. Rosemary Urabadi, an elder with expertise in the Mawng language and linguistics and Rosharlia Djorlom, who... Continue reading...
50-words project launch
We are excited to be launching the RUIL 50 words project. This will collect and present 50 words in as many Australian languages as possible, including sign languages. There will be a map of Australia that shows... Continue reading...
Newsletter December 2018
RUIL RESEARCH NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2018
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
A Time for Firsts: Murrinhpatha Seminar and Snow Days
In September Nguvudirr Jeremiah Tunmuck, funded by a RUIL Indigenous Scholar grant, visited the University of Melbourne to work with DECRA postdoctoral fellow John Mansfield. Nguvudirr is a Magati Ke man from Yederr, a fluent speaker of Murrinhpatha, and a skilled translator of... Continue reading...
Strengthening Language, Strengthening Community: Showcasing Mildura's Aboriginal Languages
The Strengthening Language project is a collaboration with the Aboriginal community of Mildura to share and discover more about the traditional language of the Mildura region. In November, the team got together again in Mildura to continue work on... Continue reading...
A Trip to Tahiti
Janet Fletcher and Nick Thieberger were part of a team that worked with colleagues in Tahiti at the University of French Polynesia on support for Pacific languages. Most of the seven languages of the French Polynesia archipelago are severely... Continue reading...
Newsletter October 2018
RUIL Research Newsletter October 2018
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrise yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Launch of the Bates Online project
RUIL's Nick Thieberger has developed an online resource based on sets of vocabularies of Aboriginal languages created in the early 1900s. Clint Bracknell launched the Bates Online project at the National Library of Australia on June 12th 2018. In 1904 Daisy Bates sent out a questionnaire to... Continue reading...
Burarra Dialects project in Maningrida, Arnhem Land
Maningrida in northern Arnhem Land is among the most multilingual communities in the world, with its 2500 people speaking fourteen languages from three language families on a daily basis, as well as English and Kriol. Within this highly multilingual context, traditional languages are changing due to new patterns of mobility, multilingualism and the influence of... Continue reading...
RUIL Director's Inaugural Professorial Lecture | video available!
In May, Professor Rachel Nordlinger gave her Inaugural Professorial lecture on 'The genius of Australian Indigenous languages, and why they are important for all of us', where she discussed some of her favourite features of these languages - ranging from... Continue reading...
Newsletter April 2018
RUIL Research Newsletter April 2018
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Makinti Minutjukur, Katrina Tjitayi and Umatji Tjitayi present at the 2018 Australian Languages Workshop
In early March, funded by the RUIL Indigenous Scholar Scheme, Indigenous researchers Makinti Minutjukur, Katrina Tjitayi and Umatji Tjitayi visited Melbourne to present at the 2018 Australian Languages Workshop (ALW) with RUIL postdoc researcher Rebecca Defina. The four researchers have been working together on... Continue reading...
Important study into Indigenous children's ear health and phonological awareness / Jill Wigglesworth
Aboriginal children tend to suffer from ear infections at a much higher rate than the majority of the population. This can affect their hearing and impact on their language and education. Jill Wigglesworth and her collaborators, Mridula Sharma and Katherine Demuth (Macquarie University) are investigating the relationship between... Continue reading...
The Sounds of Australian Aboriginal Languages / video series coming soon!
RUIL team members Brighde Collins and Hywel Stoakes have been working hard to create a series of short videos focusing on the sounds of Australian Aboriginal languages. With a relaxed interview-style format and some very daggy attempts at humor, the videos introduce some the sounds found in Aboriginal languages that are different to those in Australian English... Continue reading...
Newsletter December 2017
RUIL Research Newsletter December 2017
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Jenny and David Manmurulu / RUIL Indigenous Researchers visit Melbourne
Jenny and David Manmurulu from Warruwi Community in Arnhem Land presented three papers at the Information Technology and Indigenous Communities conference (ITIC), 27-28th September 2017, Melbourne. They were recipients of a RUIL Indigenous Researcher Grant. Continue reading...
Introducing Shonae Hobson / RUIL's 2017 cadet
From August onward, RUIL has hosted a cadet through the Faculty of Arts Indigenous Cadetship program. Shonae is a Kaantju woman from Coen, Cape York Peninsula. She is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Anthropology and Art History. She is interested in incorporating what she is learning about Indigenous languages into her broader goal of becoming a curator. Continue reading...
Rosey Billington and Ana Krajinovic / Erakor, Vanuatu
From July to September this year, RUIL team member Rosey Billington and RUIL PhD student Ana Krajinovic visited Erakor village on the island of Efate, in Vanuatu. Here they spent time learning about the Nafsan language with community members. Ana’s PhD research focuses on how people talk about time in Nafsan... Continue reading...
Newsletter August 2017
RUIL Research Newsletter August 2017
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published thrice yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of RUIL.
Rebecca Defina / Fieldwork in Pukatja, Central Australia
Dr Rebecca Defina is a RUIL team member who began her postdoctoral fellowship in 2016. This April and May, she visited Pukatja (Ernabella) in central Australia for her second fieldtrip as part of the Pitjantjatjara language acquisition project. One of the main parts of this project is building a longitudinal corpus of children talking with their families. Each child in the project is... Continue reading....
Hywel Stoakes in Galiwin'ku, NT
In October 2016 RUIL team member Hywel Stoakes travelled to the island community of Galiwin'ku off Eastern Arnhem Land to talk with Djambarrpuyŋu speakers about their language. Hywel is currently researching the phonetic patterns of voicing in Yolngu Matha varieties but the focus of this trip was to present a perceptual task to first language speakers of Djambarrpuyŋu. The aim of the project is... Continue reading....
Tim Brickell / Northwest Sulawesi, Indonesia
RUIL team member Tim Brickell started with us in late 2016, through the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme. In June and July this year he spent time in the villages of Silian and Kali Oki’ in the Tonsawang/Toundanow (Malayo-Polynesian > Western Malayo-Polynesian > Philippine > Minahasan) speech communities situated in Southeast Minahasa province, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. During this time Tim recorded a number of culturally... Continue reading....
Newsletter April 2017
RUIL Research Newsletter April 2017
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter published twice a year and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Part-parti Mirring-yi / Aboriginal knowledge of birds of SW Victoria
Part-parti Mirring-yi is the latest in a suite of bird apps developed through a partnership between RUIL and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, NT. Part-parti Mirring-yi has been created in collaboration with the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority (CMA) and the Laka Gunditj Language Program. It features Aboriginal bird knowledge from the closely-related Dhauwurd Wurrung, Djargurt Wurrung, Kee Wurrung, Kirrae Wurrung, Kuurn Kopan Noot, Peek Wurrung and Wooloowoorroong language varieties of south west Victoria... Continue reading....
The Ngandi Dictionary Project
RUIL Project Officer Brighde Collins visited the Ngukurr Language Centre in February to deliver intensive training for the community-run Ngandi Dictionary Project. This project began in mid-2015, when a language worker at the Ngukurr Language Centre, Grant Thompson, acted on a well-defined need for a modernised version of an old dictionary. The previous Ngandi dictionary was published as part of a grammar written... Continue reading....
RUIL researcher Jenny Green speaks at National Gallery of Victoria
Jenny Green was invited to present a floor talk at the National Gallery of Victoria in an exhibition of Indigenous women’s art titled Who’s afraid of colour? Jenny focused on the art of Emily Kam Kngwarray and other women artists from Utopia in the Sandover region of the Northern Territory. Jenny reflected on the people she... Continue reading....
Newsletter July 2016
Welcome to the July edition of the Newsletter for the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. Our newsletter is published thrice-yearly in 2016 and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Fieldwork Report: Yipirinya School, Alice Springs
RUIL team member Gillian Wigglesworth, and one of our PhD students Carly Steele visited Alice Springs at the end of May. They were there to trial different data collection methods for a project currently under consideration for funding with the Australian Research Council. They are working with Rhonda Oliver (Curtin University) and Robyn Ober (Bachelor Institute for Indigenous Tertiary Education). Their week in Alice Springs was spent working with teachers and students at Yipirinya Independent School. They spent time with teachers and children in.... Continue reading....
Nafsan dictionary work
Nick Thieberger has been working on a dictionary of Nafsan (Efate, Vanuatu) and ran a workshop in Erakor village in May, following up from a similar workshop in September 2015. The participants are all very keen to work on extending the information in the dictionary, especially as government policy is now in favour of initial vernacular literacy in schools. Continue reading....
Community book launch at Ti Tree
A new book, Mer Angenty-warn alhem: Travelling to Angenty waterhole (Batchelor Press), was launched at Ti Tree on the 18 May. An Anmatyerr team led by April Pengart Campbell and Clarrie Kemarr Long worked with Jenny Green from RUIL and Margaret Carew from Batchelor Institute to document songs and stories from Angenty, a sacred waterhole in Anmatyerr and Warlpiri country to the north of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Continue reading....
Newsletter November 2016
RUIL Research Newsletter November 2016
Fieldwork Report: Dr Stefan Schnell
This October, I visited the village of Vera'a on the west coast of Vanua Lava, the largest of the Banks Islands in the northern Torba Province of the Republic of Vanuatu, one of Australia's closest neighbours in the Pacific. Like all other languages of Vanuatu, Vera'a belongs to the group of Oceanic languages within the Austronesian language family. During my 12th or so stay on Vanua Lava since end 2006, we continued our... Continue reading....
Linguistics Roadshow visits Broome, WA
In August, community members in Broome, WA were visited by the Linguistics Roadshow - a workshop program developed by RUIL student Katie Jepson and associates Jill Vaughan and Rosey Billington. They were joined this year by RUIL student Pete Nyhuis and also by Amit German. The Linguistics Roadshow is an interactive showcase introducing the science of language for high-school students. The Roadshow has... Continue reading....
The Daly Languages Project
2016 saw the establishment of an exciting new repatriation project run by RUIL Director Rachel Nordlinger and Dr Ian Green. From 1980 until the mid-1990s, Ian conducted linguistic fieldwork in the Daly region in the Northern Territory. During this time he created an extensive collection of audio recordings, field notes and analyses on many of the languages in the area. Most of these languages are... Continue reading....
Newsletter April 2016
Welcome to the latest newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published twice-yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Fieldwork Report: Dr Brett Baker and Dr Rikke Bundgaard-Nielsen
Brett and Rikke are currently pursuing two research projects. Firstly, they are wrapping up their 3-year ARC Discovery Project 'Learning to talk whitefella way', which investigates the sound system of North Australian Kriol and how this affects children's learning of Standard Australian English. As part of this project, they travel to Numbulwar and Beswick, NT, to work with adults and primary school-aged children. In 2015, they were accompanied by a student from the University of Arizona, Elise Bell, on an 8 week internship funded by the National Science Foundation (US) and Australian Academy of Sciences. Last year, they tested children aged 5-12 with a new set of Kriol speech production and Kriol-based phonemic awareness tests which showed that children's voicing categories in Kriol reflect adult Kriol behaviour... Continue reading...
A visit from Wadeye youth language worker Madjarra Luke Parmbuk
In October 2015, The University of Melbourne's linguistics department was visited by Madjarra Luke Parmbuk, who came for a week to work with RUIL team members on Murrinhpatha transcription, phonetics and grammatical structure. Madjarra is a 27-year-old Marri Ngarr man from Wadeye, N.T., whose everyday language is Murrinhpatha. He has done extensive language work in Wadeye over the last 3 years, and was very excited to continue this work in Melbourne. His dedication to language work is especially impressive, given that young men from Wadeye often lack the confidence to participate in formal work or education. During his time in the linguistics department, Madjarra worked with multiple RUIL team members on a variety of projects... Continue reading...
Newsletter December 2015
Welcome to the fifth newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published twice-yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Fieldwork Report: Dr Barb Kelly
Over the past five years Barb Kelly has been immersed in discovering what she can about the acquisition of Murrinhpatha, spoken in Port Keats (Wadeye) in the north west of the NT. Together with members of the Language Acquisition in Murrinhpatha (LAMP) project she has been investigating how children acquire a complex polysynthetic language with a rich morphological system. Barb's research has focused primarily on how speakers of Murrinhpatha guide children in their early language use and how children then develop the language. On her third and most recent field trip to Wadeye in October, she enjoyed creating... Continue reading...
First precious box of cultural materials on its way to digitisation
In an exciting stage of the ARC Linkage project ‘Re-integrating Central Australian Community cultural collections’, the first box of recordings has been handed over to PARADISEC for digitisation. This ARC project (LP140100806) is a partnership between the Central Land Council (CLC), the peak Indigenous representative body covering the southern half of the Northern Territory; the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne. Continue reading...
Newsletter July 2015
Welcome to the fourth newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published twice-yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Fieldwork: Documenting Sugarbag (Honeybee) Knowledge in Maningrida
Over three fieldtrips lasting around six months (2014-15), Aung Si has been working with speakers of Kune, Rembarrnga, Djinang, Burarra and Ndjebbana to document the various names for sugarbag or bush honey in these languages. An exciting challenge is to try and figure out what criteria the speakers of these languages use to identify the different sugarbag types - the bees look very similar, so that doesn't help! Dr Anne Dollin, a honeybee taxonomist based in Sydney, has been identifying the samples collected by Aung Si in and around Maningrida. Charlie Brian, traditional owner of Buluhkaduru outstation, is an expert sugarbag finder, and has played a leading role in locating and naming all the different types. Continue reading...
Visiting Indigenous Linguists
Indigenous linguists Janet Mardbinda and Rachel Meiyinbara visit The University of Melbourne from Warruwi Community
In March, Janet Marbinda and Rachel Meiyinbara visited The University of Melbourne to work with Research Fellow Ruth Singer. The visit was supported by the RUIL Indigenous Researcher Small Grant Scheme. The six-day visit was actionpacked and included training, research and a bit of sightseeing. It was Janet's first visit to Melbourne and Rachel's second visit, the earlier one being in 1984. Continue reading...
Newsletter December 2014
Welcome to the third newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published twice-yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Public lecture and book launch: Drawn from the Ground: Sound, sign and inscription in Central Australian sand stories
On 16 September 2014 a public lecture was delivered by Dr Jenny Green (ARC Research Fellow in RUIL) at The University of Melbourne. It was held in conjunction with the book launch and reception for Dr Green's recently published book Drawn from the Ground: Sound, sign and inscription in Central Australian sand stories. We were thrilled to have Rachel Perkins, founder of Blackfella Films, with us to officially launch Dr Green's ground breaking publication. Generous funding support was provided by a University of Melbourne Faculty of Arts Engagement and Advancement grant.
Code-mixing in Maningrida
Jill Vaughan spent time in Maningrida, Arnhem Land, in May and October this year to begin work on a sociolinguistic project investigating code-mixing in this highly multilingual community. Along with Batchelor Institute linguist Margaret Carew, Jill recorded multilingual interactions in public domains (eg at the footy grand final) as well as narratives from speakers of a number of local languages (Ndjébbana, Burarra/ Gun-nartpa, Djinang, Djambarrpuyngu, Kune and Na-kara). Data collection for this project will begin in earnest in 2015. Continue reading...
Newsletter July 2014
Welcome to the second newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. This newsletter is published twice-yearly and contains details of the research activities, latest news and other achievements of the Research Unit.
Launched in May 2013, the Research Unit consists of a team of researchers from the School of Languages and Linguistics. Led by Professor Gillian Wigglesworth (Director) and Associate Professor Rachel Nordlinger (Deputy Director), the Research Unit is advised by a distinguished Steering Committee consisting of language experts from a range of government, academic, community and other organisations.
Staff within the Research Unit have been active in research into Indigenous languages and the communities where they are spoken. This newsletter presents some of the highlights, and focuses particularly on fieldwork, new and continuing projects, and new grants and publications. A full list of all publications, conference presentations and current grants can be found on the RUIL website.
The Getting in Touch workshop was held on 8 and 9 April 2014 at the Desert Peoples Centre (DPC) in Alice Springs (NT). It was hosted and supported by The Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics (CALL) at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. This workshop was made possible by funding from the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, First Languages Australia and RUIL. More information can be found in "The next step for Indigenous languages in the NT" on the ABC OPEN website. Continue reading...
Newsletter 2013
Welcome to the first newsletter of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language. The Research Unit for Indigenous Language was launched on 16 May 2013. This event combined a meeting of the Steering Committee with a public lecture by Bruce Pascoe.
Staff within the Research Unit have been active in research into Indigenous languages and the communities where they are spoken. This newsletter presents some of the highlights, and focuses particularly on fieldwork, new projects, media exposure and public outreach activities. We have also participated in a range of national and international conferences, including the Australian Linguistic Society Conference, this year hosted by the School of Languages and Linguistics. Continue reading...