Australian Aboriginal languages

The Australian Aboriginal languages comprise several language families and isolates native to Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding Tasmania. The relationships of these languages is not clear at present, although substantial progress has been made to our understanding in recent decades.

Related Topics:
Language families - Isolates - Australia - Tasmania

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Most Australian languages are extinct or endangered. Of those that survive, only 10% are being learned by children. This is largely a result of a concerted effort by the Australian government to eradicate Aboriginal culture and languages, through punishment, forced relocations, sterilization, and forced removal of children from their families. However, these efforts have now ceased, and the Western Desert language (spoken in the desert areas west of Alice Springs), {{ll|Kala Lagaw Ya}} (in the Torres Strait), and a few of the languages in the far north are doing well. Bilingual education is being used successfully in some communities; in one case recently near Alice Springs, White teachers were required to learn the local language, and Aboriginal parents complained that their children weren't learning English at school. A couple of the most populous Australian languages have around 3000 speakers.

Related Topics:
Alice Springs - Torres Strait - Bilingual education

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The Tasmanian people were nearly exterminated early in Australia's colonial history, and their languages went extinct before much was recorded. They were separated from the mainland at the end of the last ice age, and apparently went without contact with the outside world for 10,000 years. Too little is known of their languages to be able to classify them, although they seem to have had some phonological similarities with languages of the mainland.

Related Topics:
Tasmanian people - Their languages

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