Presented as part of the Lanugage Change Seminar Series

Abstract

I have drawn a distinction between two kinds of language spread, upstream and downstream. Because this metaphor has been misinterpreted, I now refer to these respectively as skirting and encroaching. Encroaching spread is where people located in a more demanding environment ‘move in on’ people with more easily obtained resources, using a combination of violence, marriage and new religious practices, to obtain and legitimize access to resources in the new territory. This can result in language shift by the indigenous groups to the language of the incoming groups. My previous research on the encroaching spread of eastern Ngumpin languages north into the Victoria River District in prehistory is summarized, with the types of evidence that show that the languages have spread and replaced non-Pama-Nyungan languages of Jarragan and Mirndi families in some areas. The paper then moves further west to deal with the encroachment of the western Ngumpin languages, Walmajarri and Jaru, into the southern Kimberley region, with special focus on the northern expansion of Jaru into the Jarragan language region. Among evidence to be looked at are early records of Jarragan languages akin to Kija from the late 19^th century with names not known from the 20^th century.

Speaker

Dr Patrick McConvell