Structure and Meaning in Australian Aboriginal English

Abstract

Australian Aboriginal English is an indigenised variety of English, adopted by Australia’s indigenous population under conditions of linguistic genocide. It is now the primary language of internal and wider communication for the majority of Australian Aboriginal people, and has undergone changes at all levels of language structure to become a distinct dialect with a unique set of linguistic features. The phonological, grammatical, semantic and discourse features described here illustrate the principal characteristics of this ethnolect and the linguistic variation within it, highlighting their relationship to social and cultural meanings and themes in the lives of the speakers. Aboriginal English can be seen to comprise a rich system of linguistic resources for expressing the full range of meanings that form and inform contemporary Australian Aboriginal experience, enhancing its function as both product and instrument of cultural survival. Full recognition of its stature among Australian and world Englishes has yet to be achieved.