Language shift among the Nyulnyul of Dampier Land

Abstract

Like many other Australian Aboriginal languages, Nyulnyul (Dampier Land, far north west of Western Australia) is effectively dead: no full speakers survive, and it is nowhere used as a medium of everyday communication. In this paper I describe its modern soctohnguistic situation, comparing and contrasting it to the situations of nearby languages; I also attempt to piece together a historical picture of the shift away from using the lan guage in post-contact times, and its possible causes. Three main types of factor appear to be relevant: demographic and other socio-culiural changes in the community; a genera tional hiatus that affected the transmission of the language; and changes in the symbolic values of the languages in the speech repertoire of the community. None of these compo nents are unique to the Nyulnyul situation -though the details of their composition and interaction is -and they have been invoked in explanations of language shift and death elsewhere in Australia and the world.

Missionary linguistics in the Kimberley, Western Australia: A history of the first seventy years

“…On the other hand, there is evidence of active Aboriginal involvement in rejection of traditional culture and languages. It is widely agreed that in the Beagle Bay Mission, Felix Ngurdinybur played a critical role in the acceptance of missionaries and Christianity (Williams 1999, McGregor 2003. It is also plausible that many Aboriginal people believed that acquisition of English was the way ahead -and not merely because missionaries told them so.…”

“…Most traditional languages of the Kimberley region are now moribund or extinct (McGregor 2002(McGregor , 2003(McGregor , 2004. Aboriginal people have to a large extent shifted to speaking Aboriginal English or Kriol (an English-based creole) as their everyday and usual variety in spoken communication.…”

Wetlands need people: a framework for understanding and promoting Australian indigenous wetland management

“…As with indigenous groups across Australia and elsewhere, the Bardi Jawi and Nyul Nyul societies have undergone significant transformation since colonization (see Choo 1997, McGregor 2003, Glaskin 2007. Despite these pressures and changes, many Bardi Jawi and Nyul Nyul people continue to live on their traditional lands and engage in cultural and customary activities and institutions.…”