Australian Aboriginal English

Australian Aboriginal English (AAE or AbE) is a cover term used for the complex, rule-governed varieties of

There are generally distinctive features of phonology, grammar, words and meanings, as well as language use in Australian Aboriginal English,[3] compared with Australian English. The language is also often accompanied by a lot of non-verbal cues.^[4]

Negative attitudes that exist in Australian society towards AbE have negative effects on Aboriginal people across law, health and educational contexts.^[2] Speakers have been noted to tend to change between different forms of AAE depending on whom they are speaking to, e.g. striving to speak more like Australian English when speaking to a non-Indigenous English-speaking person.^[5] This is sometimes referred to as diglossia or codeswitching and is common among Aboriginal people living in major cities.^[2][6]

AAE terms, or derivative terms, are sometimes used by the broader Australian community. Australian Aboriginal English is spoken among Aboriginal people generally, but is especially evident in what are called "discrete communities", i.e. ex-government or mission reserves such as the DOGIT communities in Queensland.

Varieties

There exists a

Aboriginal English varieties also occur in Indigenous-authored fictional broadcast media, including kinship words like cousin brother, brother boys, sister girl and daughter girl, and other frequent words such as blackfella(s) and mob.^[11]

Grammar

Auxiliary verbs

Aboriginal English does not make use of auxiliary verbs, such as to be and to have, or copulas to link things together. For example, the Aboriginal English equivalent of "We are working" would be "We workin'". ^[12]

Pronouns

In Aboriginal English, particularly in northern Australia, the pronouns he and him may be used for females and inanimate objects in additional to the expected masculine case. This is also shared in standard English with the masculine pronouns possessing a neuter case, uncommonly (often historically) referring to an unspecified sex (e.g. one must brush his teeth). The distinction between he as the

Phonology

Sutton (1989) documents that some speakers of Aboriginal English in the area around

Many Aboriginal people, including those who speak acrolectal varieties of English and even those who do not speak an Indigenous language, do not nasalize vowels before nasal consonants, unlike other Australian English speakers.^[14]

Acrolectal Aboriginal accents tend to have a smaller

Aboriginal people (particularly those in the Outback and in the Top End) often refer to themselves and other Aboriginal people as "blackfellas". The Australian Kriol term for an Aboriginal person is "blackbala", which comes from this term.

Business

Many Aboriginal people use the word business in a distinct way, to mean "matters". Funeral and mourning practices are commonly known as "

Camp

Many Aboriginal people refer to their house as their camp, particularly in Central Australia and the Top End of the Northern Territory.^{[citation needed]}

Cheeky

"Cheeky" (or "tjiki") may be used to mean "sly, cunning, malicious, malevolent, spiteful, ill-disposed, ill- natured, mischievous, vicious, bad, wicked, [or] evil", so can be used to describe a person, dog, mosquito or snake, and "a cheeky bugger is a universal substitute for just about anything or anybody on earth".^[17] It can be used to denote a dangerous or aggressive animal or person, so for instance could be used describe a dog that is likely to bite or attack.^[18]

Country

The word "country" has

Dardy originates in South-western Western Australia and means "cool", or really good.^[20][21]

Deadly

This usage is not exclusive to Aboriginal people. It is commonly heard in Ireland.^[22]

Fella

In some forms of Aboriginal English, "fellow" (usually spelt fella, feller, fullah, fulla, etc.) is used in combination with adjectives or numerals, e.g. "big fella business" = "important business", "one-feller girl" = "one girl". This can give it an adverbial meaning, e.g. "sing out big fella" = "call out loudly". It is also used with pronouns to indicate the plural, e.g. "me fella" = "we" or "us", "you fella" = "you all". Other words include

Gammon

In Victorian era slang used by criminals, "gammon" was to swindle someone or cheat them,^[23] used for example in the sense of creating a distraction while pickpocketing; or, more generally, nonsense, "humbug".^[24] Its origin has been variously thought to be related to leg of cured ham known as gammon or the game of backgammon.^[23][25]

The word is used across Australian Aboriginal communities, with its meaning given variously as inauthentic, cheap or broken;

While it can be used derogatorily,^[28] "Gubba" is also used to refer to friends, e.g. "gubba mates". Other words for white people are balanda (see above), migaloo,^[29] and wadjela.^[28]

Gunyah

Used in

Whereas humbug in broader English (see Charles Dickens's Scrooge character) means nonsensical, or unimportant information, humbug in Aboriginal English means to pester with inane or repetitive requests. The Warumpi Band released an album entitled Too Much Humbug. In the Northern Territory, humbug is used by both black and white in this latter, Aboriginal way. The most commonly recognised definition of humbug refers to an Aboriginal person asking a relative for money. Humbugging can become a serious burden where the traditional culture is one of communal ownership and strong obligations between relatives.

Mob

Colloquially used to mean a group of Aboriginal people associated with an extended family group, clan group or wider community group, from a

Mob is often used to refer to a language group, as in "that Warlpiri mob".^[16]

Mob and mobs are also used to describe a lot of people or things when an actual number is not stated, and is usually associated with "big" or "biggest". Examples include, "There was a big mob (or the biggest mob) at the football." or "There was no moon, so we could see the biggest mobs of stars".

You mob can be used instead of you as second person plural pronoun address.

Rubbish

While "rubbish" as an adjective in many dialects of English means wrong, stupid, or useless, in the north of Australia, "rubbish" is usually used to describe someone who is too old or too young to be active in the local culture. Another use is meaning something is "not dangerous"; for example, non-venomous snakes are all considered to be "rubbish", while in contrast, venomous snakes are "cheeky". In both cases, "rubbish" approximately means "inert".

Yarn

Yarn is an English word for a long story, often with incredible or unbelievable events.^{[citation needed]} Originally a sailors' expression, "to spin a yarn", in reference to stories told while performing mundane tasks such as spinning yarn.^[32]

In Aboriginal English, the word is used as a verb (yarning), referring to a "conversational and storytelling style where Indigenous people share stories based on real experience and knowledge, from intimate family gatherings to formal public presentations".

These phrases can be used to ask "What's happening?"[2]

Whitefella

In Aboriginal communities, particularly those in the outback and the Top End, Aboriginal people often refer to white people as "whitefellas". In Australian Kriol, "waitbala" means "a white person" and comes from this word. It and its counterpart "blackfella" headline "Blackfella/Whitefella", an Aboriginal country rock anthem about the need for racial harmony.

Other words

Some other words with particular meanings in Aboriginal English, or derived from an Aboriginal language, and/or pertaining to Aboriginal culture, include:^{[19][18][16][2]}

See also

• Australian Aboriginal Pidgin English
• List of English words of Australian Aboriginal origin
• Neo-Nyungar
• Torres Strait Creole
• Aboriginal English in Canada
• American Indian English

Footnotes

References