Searching for Aboriginal Languages (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781108025041)

In the early 1960s, R. M. W. (Bob) Dixon was one of the first linguists to study the Aboriginal languages of northeast Queensland, Australia. He found that some languages of the coastal rainforest were still in daily use, but others were only half-remembered by a single elder. This autobiographical account of fourteen years of research, first published in 1984, paints a fascinating picture of the frontier society that existed in the region nearly fifty years ago. It reveals the difficulties and the excitement of linguistic fieldwork, but most of all it focuses on the people who agreed to work with Dixon and patiently helped him to understand their dauntingly complex languages. They allowed him to record their legends and songs and spent many hours answering his questions; this book is a poignant reminder of the fragility of their ancient culture.

Author: R. M. W. Dixon
ISBN-10: 1108025048
ISBN-13: 9781108025041
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 02/17/2011
Pages: 350
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.98lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.78d