Young People's Dyirbal: An Example of Language Death from Australia

by Annette Schmidt

Overview

In 1972 when R. M. W. Dixon's classic grammar, The Dyirbal Language of North Queensland, was published, under thirty speakers of the 'traditional' language remained. Now only some of their children and grandchildren use the language; these younger people speak a simplified version. In this impressive empirical survey, Annette Schmidt analyses the changes that have taken place in the Dyirbal spoken by that last generation of its speakers at the levels of phonology, morphology, syntax, the lexicon and semantics. She also provides a detailed account of the socio-linguistic setting of the community and the attitudes towards Dyirbal among younger speakers, their elders and English speakers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521106399
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/02/2009
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Linguistics
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Aim and Method; 3. Sociolinguistic Perspective; 4. Structural Change; 5. Yd in Natural Context; 6. A Topic in Semantics: Changes in Noun Classification; 7. Lexicon; 8. Phonology; 9. Jambun English; 10. Language Death and General Linguistic Issues; 11. Conclusion.