Felicity Meakins
I studied at the University of Queensland between 1995-2001. Between 2001-04 and 2008-09, I worked as a community linguist at Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation (Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre), producing language resources and facilitating revitalisation programs for Gurindji, Bilinarra and Ngarinyman people. I joined the Aboriginal Child Language project (University of Melbourne) in 2004 as a PhD student. I completed my PhD in 2008 and continued documenting Gurindji, Bilinarra and Gurindji Kriol as a part of the Jaminjungan and Eastern Ngumpin DOBES project and then with my own ELDP grant at the University of Manchester. I have since held two ARC grants looking at the contact processes which went into the formation of Gurindji Kriol and its continuing development. I also hold an ARC grant examining contact between Mudburra, Jingulu and Kriol.
Address: School of Languages and Cultures
University of Queensland
Brisbane QLD 4072
AUSTRALIA
Address: School of Languages and Cultures
University of Queensland
Brisbane QLD 4072
AUSTRALIA
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Books by Felicity Meakins
Australia's language diversity is truly breathtaking. This continent lays claim to the world's longest continuous collection of cultures, including over 440 unique languages and many more dialects. Sadly, European invasion has had severe consequences for the vitality of these languages.
Amid devastating loss, there has also been the birth of new languages such as Kriol and Yumplatok, both English-based Creoles. Aboriginal English dialects are spoken widely, and recently there has been an inspiring renaissance of First Nations languages, as communities reclaim and renew them.
In 'Karu: Growing up Gurindji', Gurindji women describe their child-rearing practices. Some have a spiritual basis, while others are highly practical in nature, such as the use of bush medicines. Many Gurindji ways of raising children contrast with non-Indigenous practices because they are deeply embedded in an understanding of country and family connections. This book celebrates children growing up Gurindji, and honours those Gurindji mothers, grandmothers, assistant teachers and health workers who dedicate their lives to making that possible.
Songs from the Stations explores another side of life on Wave Hill Sta on. Despite harsh condi ons and decades of mistreatment, an eclectic ceremonial life flourished in the first half of the twentieth century. Constant travel between ca le sta ons by Indigenous workers meant that Wave Hill Sta on became a cross-road of desert and Top End musical styles. The Gurindji people learnt songs from the Mudburra who came further east, the Bilinarra from the north, the Nyininy from the west, and the Warlpiri from the south.
This book is the first detailed documentation of wajarra, public songs performed by the Gurindji people in response to contemporary events in their community. Based on extensive discussion and collaboration with Gurindji singers, it considers both the history of wajarra and its role in community life today. In tracing the linguistic, musical and social origins of the songs, Songs from the Sta ons reveals a rich history of cultural exchange.
* A focus on fieldwork in countries and continents which have undergone colonial expansion, including Australia, the United States of America, Canada, South America and Africa;
* A description of specialist methods used to conduct research on phonological, grammatical and lexical description, but also including methods for research on gesture and sign, language acquisition, language contact and the verbal arts;
* Examples of resources that have resulted from collaborations with language communities which both advance linguistic understanding and support language revitalisation work;
* Annotated guidance on sources for further reading.
This book is essential reading for students studying modules relating to linguistic fieldwork or those looking to embark upon field research.
Gurindji culture has a strong oral storytelling tra- dition, from ancient to recent times: Dreamtime stories for ceremony and entertainment, and anecdotes told for fun as part of everyday life. The selected stories in Mayarni-kari Yurrk, pre- sented in both Gurindji and English, capture this tradition and provide a captivating insight into Gurindji history and life.
Papers by Felicity Meakins
of grammatical relations in Gurindji Kriol, in order to determine
whether differences between adults and children are the result of
an abrupt generational shift or an extended acquisition process.
We analyze the identification of agents in transitive sentences
using a 2AFC task where 16 agents are case-marked or not and are
ordered AV/VA. The study includes 73 participants which represent
four groups of Gurindji Kriol children (5, 7, 9 and 11 years old)
tested in 2005 and 2016, and one control group of adults tested in
2005. The data are analyzed both diachronically (in real-time) and
synchronically (in apparent-time). Our real-time analysis of the
2005 and 2016 children’s data reveals differences between child
groups but no differences across time, suggesting their patterns of
agent identification can be interpreted as an acquisitional cline.
Our apparent-time comparison of the combined 2005 and 2016
child and adult data show that by the age of 11 years, children
have acquired an adult-like argument-marking system which relies
on both case and word order.