It differs from standard Australian English in words, sounds, grammar, lexical items, discourse patterns, and pragmatics. Some key differences include using Aboriginal words with different meanings; leaving out or adding letters in words; omitting prepositions; and using long, loosely connected sentences. Aboriginal English varies significantly across different Aboriginal language groups and regions.

1. Aboriginal English
Jack Fursdon

2. Different types of Aboriginal English
Australian Aboriginal Creole's and English’s
Australian
Indigenous
Languages, nfd Kimberly area
7% languages
other australian 1%
indigenous
Arnhem Land
languages
and Dlay River
12%
Region
Languages Western Desert
15% languages
13%
Yolngu Matha
10%
Arandic
11%
Northern
Cape York Peninsula Desert Fringe
Torres Strait Island
Languages Area
languages
5% Languages
13%
13%
Love the lingo

3. What is Aboriginal English
• Based on a mix of English and aboriginal
languages
• Used in rural aboriginal communities
• Differs from Australian English linguistically in
almost every way
• Many words have entirely different meanings in
Aboriginal English
• Eg: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/awaye/
• Itunes: Yothu Yindi: Treaty, tribal voices, Djapana

4. Differences between Aboriginal English
and Standard English
• Words
• Sounds
• Grammatical
• Lexical
• Discourse
• Pragmatics

5. Words
• Words of Aboriginal English often reflect the
cultures of the region
• E.g. Policeman: monatj in Western
Australia, booliman in
Queensland, gunji or gunjibal in New South
Wales
• Can have completely different meanings to
English languages
• E.g. mother means 'the woman who gave birth to
a person, and that woman's sisters'

6. Sounds
• Leaving out and adding of letters
• E.g. enry’s at (Henry’s hat)
• E.g. Huncle Henry ( Uncle Henry)
• http://www.pawmedia.com.au/library/huntin
g-185

7. Grammatical and Lexical
• Many Prepositions are left out
• Different constructions of negatives
• Simplified tag questions
• Question structure
• Sentences formed by joining two phrases
• Noun Phrase + there

8. Grammatical and Lexical ctd
• No third person
• Replacement of “that” for “what”
• Inconsistent number system
• Doubly marked past tense

9. Discourse
• Long, loosely connected structures
• Clausal marks are absent
• Verb chaining
• Word Order

10. Pragmatics
• Questions not used to seek information
• Use of indirect questioning
• Silence

11. Reference List
• Aedes, D. (2011), “Aboriginal English”. Available
http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/aboriginal.html 19th
October 2011
• The university of Adelaide. (2011), “Notes on spelling and pronunciation”.
Available http://www.adelaide.edu.au/kwp/language/spelling/ 19th October 2011
• Australian Government: department of foreign affairs and trade.
(2011), “Indigenous languages”. Available
http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/indigenous_languages.html 19th October 2011
• Burridge, K and De Laps, D. (2010) Love the Lingo. Victoria: VATE
For sources on specific Aboriginal languages:
• Nathan, D. (2007), “Aboriginal languages of Australia”. Available
http://www.dnathan.com/VL/austLang.htm 19th October 2011

12. The End
Thanks for listening