When do gestures become linguistic? Understanding the gesture-language interface through a corpusbased study of pointing signs in signed languages. This project will use corpus-based and experimental studies to compare pointing signs in three sign languages with pointing gestures used by hearing non-signers in order to answer the question: What relationship do gestures have to language? It will help us understand how pointing works as part of a sign language system, and how it is used as co-spee ....When do gestures become linguistic? Understanding the gesture-language interface through a corpusbased study of pointing signs in signed languages. This project will use corpus-based and experimental studies to compare pointing signs in three sign languages with pointing gestures used by hearing non-signers in order to answer the question: What relationship do gestures have to language? It will help us understand how pointing works as part of a sign language system, and how it is used as co-speech gesture. Both spoken languages and sign languages make use of pointing, and thus it represents a unique case study for the investigation of the relationship between gesture and language. This project will provide a distinctive contribution to our knowledge about the relationship between language and other aspects of human communication. Read moreRead less
Tangsa Wihu song: insight into culture through language, music and ritual. This project seeks to study the complex and under-researched linguistic diversity of the newly opening India–Myanmar borders. The Tangsa Wihu song-cycle is a ritual and poetic tradition common to people in a very linguistically diverse community situated in the India–Myanmar border region. This project plans to study this song-cycle, which was traditionally performed over many hours and days, examining the linguistic, his ....Tangsa Wihu song: insight into culture through language, music and ritual. This project seeks to study the complex and under-researched linguistic diversity of the newly opening India–Myanmar borders. The Tangsa Wihu song-cycle is a ritual and poetic tradition common to people in a very linguistically diverse community situated in the India–Myanmar border region. This project plans to study this song-cycle, which was traditionally performed over many hours and days, examining the linguistic, historical and musicological features of the song in its various contexts. The rich and complex linguistic diversity of Tangsa is shining a light on traditional patterns of human linguistic and social development, and this detailed study is expected to enhance our knowledge of the linguistic and cultural diversity of India and Myanmar.Read moreRead less
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100544
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$862,952.00
Summary
Unlocking the archive: reuniting Indigenous languages and their communities. Australia is experiencing a crisis in the loss of Indigenous languages. Drawing on both international best practice and local knowledge, this project aims to develop innovative and enduring resources for community-driven language maintenance and revitalisation. By collaborating with and building the capacity of Indigenous language workers and organisations, the following transformative outcomes are anticipated: (1) tool ....Unlocking the archive: reuniting Indigenous languages and their communities. Australia is experiencing a crisis in the loss of Indigenous languages. Drawing on both international best practice and local knowledge, this project aims to develop innovative and enduring resources for community-driven language maintenance and revitalisation. By collaborating with and building the capacity of Indigenous language workers and organisations, the following transformative outcomes are anticipated: (1) tools to unlock linguistic terminology and methods; (2) resources for language revitalisation; (3) an evaluation of existing strategies for language revitalisation; (4) new understanding of Indigenous people's perceptions of language change and how this informs their language goals.Read moreRead less
A multifaceted study of Tangsa: a network of linguistic varieties in North East India. Our world's linguistic and cultural heritage, the product of human evolution, is being lost rapidly due to globalisation and modernisation. This project will record the linguistic diversity of the Tangsa people of North East India, thereby increasing our knowledge of an important regional neighbour and of our human society and history.
Language engineering in the field: preserving 100 endangered languages in New Guinea. Efforts to preserve the world's endangered linguistic heritage are labour-intensive, and unable to keep up with the pace of language loss. This project investigates a new approach to language preservation, using techniques from language engineering, and leveraging the labour of mother-tongue speakers.
Learning to tell a narrative in Murrinhpatha. This project aims to examine the linguistic, social, and cognitive stages of children’s narrative development in Murrinhpatha, an Indigenous Australian language spoken in Wadeye. Until they encounter the bilingual education system at primary school, the children of Wadeye grow up in a largely monolingual Murrinhpatha environment. The research will examine how children structure narratives in this typologically unusual language. It will provide insigh ....Learning to tell a narrative in Murrinhpatha. This project aims to examine the linguistic, social, and cognitive stages of children’s narrative development in Murrinhpatha, an Indigenous Australian language spoken in Wadeye. Until they encounter the bilingual education system at primary school, the children of Wadeye grow up in a largely monolingual Murrinhpatha environment. The research will examine how children structure narratives in this typologically unusual language. It will provide insights into how information interacts with linguistic complexity, cognitive constraints and social interaction. This project aims to maintain the vitality of Murrinhpatha in the community and contribute to the development of bilingual education programmes.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100216
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$345,000.00
Summary
Emotions, language and culture in Arnhem Land (Katherine region). This project aims to increase our understanding of emotional language and cultural practices about emotions among Indigenous Australian groups. Emotion is a fundamental human experience, yet different languages provide very different ways of talking about it. What are the consequences of this? Are these differences culturally constrained? Might differences in the grammar of a language influence the way its speakers express emotion ....Emotions, language and culture in Arnhem Land (Katherine region). This project aims to increase our understanding of emotional language and cultural practices about emotions among Indigenous Australian groups. Emotion is a fundamental human experience, yet different languages provide very different ways of talking about it. What are the consequences of this? Are these differences culturally constrained? Might differences in the grammar of a language influence the way its speakers express emotions, or even the way they experience emotions? This project seeks to describe and compare the way emotions are expressed in five Aboriginal languages of Arnhem Land. Four of these languages are endangered and the project will also provide the urgent documentation needed to preserve them.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing Australia’s linguistic past: Are all Australian languages related to one another? This project addresses a central question about Australia’s past. Are all the languages of Australia related, deriving from a common source language: Proto-Australian. The project will examine the implications of a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ answer for analyses of Australian prehistory, and for general analyses of human prehistory. The project involves extensive documentation of an endangered language Yanyuwa, ....Reconstructing Australia’s linguistic past: Are all Australian languages related to one another? This project addresses a central question about Australia’s past. Are all the languages of Australia related, deriving from a common source language: Proto-Australian. The project will examine the implications of a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ answer for analyses of Australian prehistory, and for general analyses of human prehistory. The project involves extensive documentation of an endangered language Yanyuwa, because of the significance of Yanyuwa data in deciding between a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ answer. The project will provide a descriptive grammar of Yanyuwa, a book evaluating the Proto-Australian hypothesis, and articles discussing the significance of the success or failure of the hypothesis for theories of the general human past.Read moreRead less
The building blocks of language: Words in Central Australian languages. This project seeks to model the structure of words and phrases in three indigenous languages of of central Australia: Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, and Warumungu. The project will advance our understanding of the different ways that words and phrases function as the building blocks of language: how words vary in complexity, and the different ways that they combine to generate higher levels of linguistc structure. The project will pre ....The building blocks of language: Words in Central Australian languages. This project seeks to model the structure of words and phrases in three indigenous languages of of central Australia: Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, and Warumungu. The project will advance our understanding of the different ways that words and phrases function as the building blocks of language: how words vary in complexity, and the different ways that they combine to generate higher levels of linguistc structure. The project will preserve Indigenous language heritage and contribute to Indigenous cultural maintenance, a significant factor in advancing Indigenous well-being. The project will generate new insights into language structure that will advance linguistic theory, and inform language teaching and speech processing technologies.Read moreRead less
Hearing the future: supporting Indigenous linguistic diversity. This project aims to find new ways to support the extraordinary diversity of Indigenous languages spoken in Australia. In Arnhem Land the ability to understand but not speak a language is widespread and plays a crucial role supporting linguistic diversity. This ability, receptive multilingualism, will be examined using an innovative interdisciplinary methodology, generating new understandings about the relationship between multiling ....Hearing the future: supporting Indigenous linguistic diversity. This project aims to find new ways to support the extraordinary diversity of Indigenous languages spoken in Australia. In Arnhem Land the ability to understand but not speak a language is widespread and plays a crucial role supporting linguistic diversity. This ability, receptive multilingualism, will be examined using an innovative interdisciplinary methodology, generating new understandings about the relationship between multilingualism and linguistic diversity that are crucial to tackling the global decline in Indigenous languages. The findings will help communities, educators and policymakers develop new strategies to support Australia’s Indigenous languages which are vital to Indigenous health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less