Bina
First Nations Languages, Old and New
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
The incredible story of the resilience and recovery of Australia's First Nations languages
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.
Bina: First Nations Languages Old and New tells this story, from the earliest exchange of words between colonists and First Nations people to today's reclamations. It is a creative and exciting introduction to a vital and dynamic world of language.
'Years in the making, Bina offers a multidimensional reflection on how many diverse languages across this continent continue to vibrate in rich and profound ways. The emergence of Indigenous linguists Gari Tudor-Smith and Paul Williams as authors of this survey alongside Felicity Meakins signals an important and welcome shift in the Australian linguistics landscape.' —Professor Clint Bracknell, University of Western Australia, Nyungar musicologist and musician
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This groundbreaking book maps the unlikely revival of First Nations languages across Australia. Following the near-decimation of hundreds of languages and dialects during European colonisation, many are making a comeback. The authors spotlight some key people leading this reclamation and examine language as an enduring—and evolving—receptacle for knowledge, history, creativity and culture. On a unique continent that once encouraged a staggering diversity of tongues, Bina documents a steady swing away from the monolinguistic dominance of recent decades. Shared with an even voice and impressive depth of research, the results provide a heartening glimpse of a future that integrates the past at every step.
