50 words: From hello to kangaroo, new map of Indigenous languages of Australia
As reported by Julie Power on smh.com.au
Now 50 words of Kaurna have been included and voiced by Mr Buckskin on a new Indigenous language mapping project called 50words.online.
Jack Buckskin is driving a new project aiming to put 50 words of every Indigenous language on the map. (Image courtesy SMH - Credit: Roy Vandervegt )
Jack Buckskin had "no idea" what he was getting into when he signed up 14 years ago to learn his people's "sleeping" language.
Spoken for thousands of years by the Aboriginal people of Adelaide and the Adelaide Plains, nobody had used it in everyday life for nearly 150 years.
The 33-year-old estimates he has taught Kaurna (pronounced Garna) to thousands of people, including children at Northfield Primary School in Adelaide last Monday.
These days he finds it galling when people dazzle him with their linguistic twists in Kaurna. "I find it difficult that someone can throw me under a bus with a random conversation [in Kaurna] because I have usually taught them," Mr Buckskin said.
Hearing Mr Buckskin talk was inspirational to Northfield's 420 students, said the school's principal Donna Beaney.
"Jack is very powerful and engaging," she said. For the school's 52 Aboriginal students, many of whom were related to Mr Buckskin, she said "It was really lovely to see this intelligent strong man talking about language, it gave the children a sense of pride to be Aboriginal."
Jack Buckskin teaching the local Indigenous language at Northfield Primary School in Adelaide. (Image courtesy SMH - Credit: Roy Vandervegt)
Launched a week ago, the 50words map aims to showcase the diversity of Indigenous languages, starting with 50 words (or fewer, if more words aren't available). There are 15 languages, including Kaurna, and the hope is to include every Indigenous language.
The 50words project is an International Year of Indigenous Languages initiative of the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne.
Led by linguists Professor Rachel Nordlinger and Associate Professor Nick Thieberger from Melbourne University's Research Unit for Indigenous Language, the interactive website is designed to showcase the diversity and number of Indigenous languages.
"It is easy sometimes for Australians to think of Indigenous languages as something of the past, but by having the audio, it brings them to life," Professor Nordlinger said. "It becomes real, which is why it is so moving to hear the voices."
"When people talk about a connection to country, language gives you that," Mr Bucksin said. "It gives you an understanding of what the environment and the culture was like."
The list starts with 'welcome', 'hello' and 'goodbye', and includes 'yes', 'no', 'kangaroo', 'cold weather', 'moon, 'star' and others. Audio is provided, and people can search the map by language and word.