Mirning language study crosses borders
Uncovering the intriguing complexities and history of the little-researched Aboriginal dialect Mirning is the aim of a new partnership for the Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre and a counterpart across the South Australian border.
The GALC is working with Ceduna’s Far West Languages Centre and the University of Adelaide’s mobile language team to conduct the research.
University of Adelaide linguist Dr Paul Monaghan said research into Mirning, which has links Australia-wide, would bring about far-reaching benefits for communities where the language is spoken.
“Originally there would have been one country but now people are spread across the country,” he said.
“When you are dealing with language you are dealing with everything, you are dealing with wellbeing, identity, how you relate to the land and knowledge of the land.
“Aboriginal languages are an encyclopedia of this land, you get better health, education and wellbeing outcomes where it is taught.
“It is a language linguists are still trying to work out, it is partly influenced by the desert.
“It is partly related to other languages in WA and also there are other languages in South Australia.
“So where does this one language or collection of dialects fit into the big picture of Australian dialects that we have all been studying?”
GALC senior linguist Sue Hanson said the partnership was aimed at recovering identity for Mirning people.
“Aboriginal languages are not just a language, they are a part of Aboriginal people’s self identity and a really core part of that,” she said.
“For Mirning people it is really important we recover part of that — part of people’s identity.
“A lot of that has been lost through dispossession and dislocation due to the European settlement to Australia.”
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