Leslie Massey
Australia is home to one of the largest language families in the world, with over 250 Australian Aboriginal languages thought to have existed at the time of first European contact. The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, with estimates ranging from 200 to 363 languages. The majority of Australian languages belong to the Pama-Nyungan family, which covers 90% of the continent and is spoken across 90% of Australia. The remaining languages are classified as non-Pama-Nyungan, spoken in the far north of the country.
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What You'll Learn
- Pama-Nyungan, the largest family of Aboriginal languages in Australia
- Non-Pama-Nyungan, a term for the remaining languages not in the Pama-Nyungan family
- English, the de facto national language of Australia
- English-based creoles, including Kriol and Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole)
- Tasmanian languages, possibly related to one another in four language families
Pama-Nyungan, the largest family of Aboriginal languages in Australia
Australia is home to one of the world's largest language families. The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, with estimates ranging from 200 to 363. The Indigenous languages of Australia comprise numerous language families and isolates, perhaps as many as 27, spoken by the Indigenous peoples of mainland Australia and a few nearby islands.
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, derived from the two end-points of the range: the Pama languages of northeast Australia (where the word for "man" is pama) and the Nyungan languages of southwest Australia (where the word for "man" is nyunga). The Pama-Nyungan family accounts for most of the geographic spread, most of the Aboriginal population, and the greatest number of languages.
At the time of European settlement, there were about 300 Pama-Nyungan languages, covering 90% of the country. The territories on which Canberra (Ngunnawal), Perth (Noongar), Sydney (Daruk, Iyora), Brisbane (Turubal), and Melbourne (Woiwurrung) are built were all once occupied by speakers of Pama-Nyungan languages. All the languages from the Torres Strait to Bunbury, from the Pilbara to the Grampians, are descended from a single ancestor language that spread across the continent to all but the Kimberley and the Top End.
The first descriptions of languages from this family date to missionary grammars from the early 19th century, but the Pama-Nyungan family itself was identified and named only by Kenneth L. Hale, in his work on the classification of Native Australian languages. Hale's research led him to the conclusion that of the Aboriginal Australian languages, one relatively closely interrelated family had spread and proliferated over most of the continent, while approximately a dozen other families were concentrated along the North coast.
Pama-Nyungan languages generally share several broad phonotactic constraints: single-consonant onsets, a lack of fricatives, and a prohibition against liquids (laterals and rhotics) beginning words. Most Pama-Nyungan languages are spoken by small ethnic groups of hundreds of speakers or fewer. Many languages have become extinct, and almost all remaining ones are endangered in some way.
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Non-Pama-Nyungan, a term for the remaining languages not in the Pama-Nyungan family
The Indigenous languages of Australia are numerous, numbering at least 250, with some estimates ranging up to 363. These languages comprise several language families and isolates, with the Pama-Nyungan family being the most widespread and covering 90% of the continent. The remaining languages that do not fall within the Pama-Nyungan family are referred to as "Non-Pama-Nyungan". This term is one of convenience and does not imply a genealogical relationship between these languages. Non-Pama-Nyungan languages are found in the far north of Australia, except in Queensland, and are much less widespread than their Pama-Nyungan counterparts.
The classification of Australian Aboriginal languages is a complex task due to the lack of extensive records and the great length of time over which these languages developed. Many languages became extinct with the settlement of colonial societies, and few records exist for their vocabulary and grammar. At the start of the 21st century, fewer than 150 Aboriginal languages remained in daily use, with the majority being highly endangered.
The uniqueness of Australian Aboriginal languages is likely due to the geographic isolation of the continent. Archaeological evidence indicates that Australia has been inhabited for at least 40,000 years, with little sign of significant cultural contact with other Pacific peoples. This long period of isolation has made reconstructing a Proto-Australian language challenging.
Despite the challenges, linguists have made significant progress in understanding the relationships between Australian Aboriginal languages. In the late 18th century, there were over 250 distinct First Nations Peoples social groupings, each with its own language or variety. Over time, these languages evolved and spread across the continent, with the Pama-Nyungan family expanding to cover most of Australia.
While the Pama-Nyungan family is widely accepted by linguists, there are differing opinions regarding its validity as a single language family. Some linguists, like Robert M. W. Dixon, argue that the deep genealogical relationships between Australian languages are difficult to discern due to the long period of mutual influence. However, other linguists, such as Kenneth L. Hale, have provided evidence supporting the Pama-Nyungan grouping and its age, comparing it to that of Proto-Indo-European.
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English, the de facto national language of Australia
English is the de facto national language of Australia, despite the country having no official language. It is the language of school education and is a key learning area in the Australian curriculum up to Year 10. It is also the language of commerce, education, science, and administration. English is the first language of the majority of the population, with around 72%-73% of Australians speaking only English at home. It was introduced to the country upon British settlement in 1788 and gradually overtook the Indigenous languages that were previously spoken.
Australian English has a distinctive accent and lexicon and differs slightly from other varieties of English in terms of grammar and spelling. General Australian serves as the standard dialect. English-based creole languages have also arisen in Australia after European contact, with Kriol and Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) being among the strongest and fastest-growing Indigenous languages.
The Indigenous languages of Australia are diverse and number in the hundreds, with estimates ranging from a minimum of 250 to possibly 363. These languages comprise numerous language families and isolates, perhaps as many as 13, spoken by the Indigenous peoples of mainland Australia and a few nearby islands. The precise number is uncertain, and the relationships between the language families are not yet clear. Many Indigenous languages have become extinct, and most of the surviving languages have very few speakers. However, there are efforts to preserve and revive them, with the Australian government committing funding to teach First Nations languages in primary schools and support Indigenous Language Centres across the country.
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English-based creoles, including Kriol and Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole)
Australia is home to one of the largest language families in the world. The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, with estimates ranging from a minimum of 250 to possibly 363. The status and knowledge of Aboriginal languages today vary greatly, and many languages are extinct or endangered.
Torres Strait Creole, or Yumplatok, is spoken on the Torres Strait Islands of Queensland, Australia, Northern Cape York, and southwestern coastal Papua New Guinea. It has an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 mother-tongue and bilingual or trilingual speakers. It is widely used as a language of trade and commerce. Yumplatok was included in the languages listed in the 2011 Census.
Kriol and Yumplatok are "contact languages" or creoles that developed as Indigenous Australians mingled with people from other Aboriginal language groups and with European colonisers. They contain elements of English and traditional Indigenous languages. For example, Yumplatok incorporates words from Austronesian languages (such as Malay), Portuguese, and Meriam Mir. Kriol, like other creole languages, does not retain the inconsistencies of its parent languages. For instance, it removes the irregularities found in the expression of past time in English and instead uses the marker 'bin' before the verb, as in "Minbala bin wok gada ola biliken" ("The two of us walked with the billycans").
Both Kriol and Yumplatok were once stigmatised and misunderstood, with speakers facing obstacles in education, employment, health, and legal systems. However, they are now better understood due to the pioneering work of academics and Indigenous collaborators, as well as workshops for teachers, health workers, employers, and legal professionals.
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Tasmanian languages, possibly related to one another in four language families
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, with estimates ranging from 200 to 363. 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. The relationships between the language families are not clear at present, although there are proposals to link some into larger groupings.
Tasmania, an island state of Australia, is believed to have had five to sixteen languages, possibly related to one another in four language families. The last speaker of a traditional Tasmanian language, Fanny Cochrane Smith, died in 1905. The languages of Tasmania were not extensively studied before their extinction, and the surviving lists of Tasmanian words show a poor grasp of the sounds of Tasmanian.
The Tasmanian languages are attested by three dozen word lists, the most extensive being those of Joseph Milligan and George Augustus Robinson. All these show a poor grasp of the sounds of Tasmanian, which appear to have been fairly typical of Australian languages in this parameter. Crowley and Dixon (1981) summarise what little is known of Tasmanian phonology and grammar.
There is no good evidence for a Tasmanian language family. However, Bayesian phylogenetic methods demonstrate that two of the five clusters identified by Bowern (2012) are clearly related, but the others cannot be related to each other based on existing evidence. Given the length of human habitation on Tasmania, it should not be expected for the languages to be demonstrably related to each other.
Palawa kani is an in-progress constructed language, built from a composite of surviving words from various Tasmanian Aboriginal languages.
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Frequently asked questions
There are numerous language families in Australia, possibly as many as 13. However, the relationships between these language families are not entirely clear.
The Pama-Nyungan family is the largest and most widespread language family in Australia, covering 90% of the continent. The rest of the languages are classified as "non-Pama-Nyungan". Other language families include the Tasmanian languages and the Western Torres Strait language.
There are around 145 Aboriginal languages with speakers today, including languages from outside the Pama-Nyungan family. Some of these languages include Dieri, Ngalia, Mangala, Yolŋu, Arrernte, Kaurna, Kriol, Palawa Kani, and Gurindji Kriol.
English is the de facto official and national language of Australia, with Australian English being a major variety with a distinctive accent and lexicon.
