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Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol

  • Felicity Meakins
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Social Lives in Language – Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities
This chapter is in the book Social Lives in Language – Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities

Abstract

Empirical evidence for the sociolinguistic origins of mixed languages has often proven elusive due to the paucity of historical material on the linguistic and political situation at the point of their genesis. Gurindji Kriol is a mixed language spoken by Gurindji people in northern Australia. The socio-historical circumstances of its emergence are well-documented due to the role that Gurindji people played in Australian politics at the time. Between 1966 and 1975, they led a landmark political struggle to regain control of their traditional lands. Gurindji Kriol found its genesis during this period and its emergence is significant given that many other Aboriginal groups in the area were shifting to Kriol, an English-based creole language. In this chapter I argue that the retention of Gurindji features in the mixed language occurred in parallel with the land rights movement and both can be considered expressions of the persistence of a Gurindji identity.

Abstract

Empirical evidence for the sociolinguistic origins of mixed languages has often proven elusive due to the paucity of historical material on the linguistic and political situation at the point of their genesis. Gurindji Kriol is a mixed language spoken by Gurindji people in northern Australia. The socio-historical circumstances of its emergence are well-documented due to the role that Gurindji people played in Australian politics at the time. Between 1966 and 1975, they led a landmark political struggle to regain control of their traditional lands. Gurindji Kriol found its genesis during this period and its emergence is significant given that many other Aboriginal groups in the area were shifting to Kriol, an English-based creole language. In this chapter I argue that the retention of Gurindji features in the mixed language occurred in parallel with the land rights movement and both can be considered expressions of the persistence of a Gurindji identity.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Introduction: Social lives in language 1
  5. Photos of Gillian: Then and now 17
  6. Biographies of contributors and email addresses 19
  7. Part I. Language Ideology: From the speakers, what can we learn about the language?
  8. Language, mobility and (in)security: A journey through Francophone Canada 27
  9. Language repertoires and the middle class in urban Solomon Islands 43
  10. Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol 69
  11. "I've been speaking Tsotsitaal all my life without knowing it": Towards a unified account of tsotsitaals in South Africa. 95
  12. Tok Bokis, Tok Piksa: Translating parables in Papua New Guinea 111
  13. Part II. Bridging Macro- and Micro-sociolinguistics
  14. Chiac in context: Overview and evaluation of Acadie's Joual 137
  15. How to predict the evolution of a bilingual community 179
  16. How local is local French in Quebec? 195
  17. Part III. Quantitative sociolinguistics: From the languages, what can we learn about the speakers?
  18. Ne deletion in Picard and in regional French: Evidence for distinct grammars 223
  19. The dynamics of pronouns in the Québec languages in contact dynamics 249
  20. Subordinate clause marking in Montreal Anglophone French and English 273
  21. Mysteries of the substrate 315
  22. Empirical problems with domain-based notions of "simple" 327
  23. Index of names 357
  24. Index of subjects 361
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.24.08mea

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Introduction: Social lives in language 1
  5. Photos of Gillian: Then and now 17
  6. Biographies of contributors and email addresses 19
  7. Part I. Language Ideology: From the speakers, what can we learn about the language?
  8. Language, mobility and (in)security: A journey through Francophone Canada 27
  9. Language repertoires and the middle class in urban Solomon Islands 43
  10. Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol 69
  11. "I've been speaking Tsotsitaal all my life without knowing it": Towards a unified account of tsotsitaals in South Africa. 95
  12. Tok Bokis, Tok Piksa: Translating parables in Papua New Guinea 111
  13. Part II. Bridging Macro- and Micro-sociolinguistics
  14. Chiac in context: Overview and evaluation of Acadie's Joual 137
  15. How to predict the evolution of a bilingual community 179
  16. How local is local French in Quebec? 195
  17. Part III. Quantitative sociolinguistics: From the languages, what can we learn about the speakers?
  18. Ne deletion in Picard and in regional French: Evidence for distinct grammars 223
  19. The dynamics of pronouns in the Québec languages in contact dynamics 249
  20. Subordinate clause marking in Montreal Anglophone French and English 273
  21. Mysteries of the substrate 315
  22. Empirical problems with domain-based notions of "simple" 327
  23. Index of names 357
  24. Index of subjects 361
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