R. Amery

An Australian koine: Dhuwaya, a variety of Yolŋu Matha spoken at Yirrkala in Worth East Arnhemland

Australian creoles are widely known in linguistic circles. Several such language varieties have received attention from linguists, such äs Fitzroy Valley Kriol (Hudson 1983), Ngukurr-Bamyili Kriol (Sandefur 1979), and Torres Strait/Cape York Creole (Crowley and Rigsby 1979; Shnukal 1983). However, koine varieties, arising under similar social conditions to creoles, have seldom been described, much less identified äs koines. Siegel (1988: 14) speculates about the koineization of Aboriginal languages:

Recognising the communication gap in Indigenous health care

13 T significant impact on health outcomes. Limited health literacy is not confined to Indigenous people, but it is greatlymagnified for speakers of Indigenous languages in comparison, for example, to non-English speaking migrants from countries where a scientific approach to medicine is practised andwhere these health concepts are already codified. The communication gap is most pronounced in remote areas where cultural and linguistic differences are greatest. The close interdependence of language and culture amplifies the gap, such that communication difficulties in these communities run deeper than language barriers alone.

The homecoming of an Indigenous Australian diaspora as impetus for language revival: the Kaurna of the Adelaide plains, South Australia

ABSTRACT Following the invasion, or colonisation as some prefer to call it, Indigenous Australia has been characterised by plummeting populations, largely as a result of introduced diseases and the movement of peoples, following the theft of their lands and in response to colonial and subsequent Australian state and federal government policies. At times, various Aboriginal peoples were completely removed from their homelands. One such case concerns the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains in South Australia. Following the abandonment of restrictive policies, Aboriginal people drifted back to Adelaide and many began to identify with their Kaurna ancestry. All Kaurna people have multiple ethnicities within their ancestry, providing opportunities for shifting identities and shifting affinities. This paper investigates the role that the Kaurna language now serves for the returning Kaurna diaspora and for others in metropolitan Adelaide. Within the Kaurna community there are strong pressures for both conformity and non-conformity. We see this in relation to the Kaurna language through language planning measures on the one hand, and on the other through identity politics expressed through the language. Kaurna language is in demand by Kaurna people as a source of names and for emblematic use within the public domain. It is just beginning to make inroads into private domains as several families attempt to raise young children speaking Kaurna. The Kaurna language is also in demand by the wider community, where there is a strong and largely unmet demand for teachers of Kaurna and for Kaurna names and translations of various kinds. The Kaurna language has re-emerged from a point of almost total obscurity 30 years ago to something of an auxiliary language used alongside English. Whilst it will never replace English, it is still on the ascendency, as it addresses needs both for the returning diaspora and wider society.

Pinning down Kaurna names: Linguistic issues arising in the development of the Kaurna Place Names Database

Kaurna people are in the process of reclaiming their identity and their language, a language that was considered to be ‘extinct’ by many or ‘sleeping’ by the people themselves (see Amery 2000a). Kaurna people have expressed the view at Kaurna Warra Pintyanthi (KWP) meetings that they wish to see Kaurna words spelt and pronounced correctly and are keen to see that Aboriginal placenames in use on the Adelaide Plains conform to the sound patterns of the language. Names that appear to be of Indigenous origin are being sifted through. Those that can be verified as Kaurna names are retained, others are discarded and some are translated into Kaurna or adapted into the Kaurna sound and spelling systems.