Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages

Editor: David Nathan

Update 2024

This site is no longer current and is not being updated. Since 2016, happily, the number of online sources of knowledge about Australian Indigenous languages exploded in number and diversity of sources, especially from Indigenous organisations and individuals. As a result, it became impossible to keep ALoA up to date. It is no longer a key resource.

As the main web portal for Australian Aboriginal languages on the web (part of Tim Berners-Lee’s official W3C Virtual Library (now defunct at https://www.vlib.org/ - see its history) this site provided summaries, guidance and links to quality resources on Aboriginal languages, especially those produced from communities and by community members. It was listed in most of the major international libraries and other institutions as a key site for Australian languages, and attracted over 500,000 hits a year.

Approximately half of the linked sites still exist and the site’s back-end database remains valuable because it contains data which tracks 20 years of the emergence, expansion and changes in the online presence of Australian First Nations languages from the birth of the web.

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RESULTS: 5 ITEMS FOR LANGUAGE Arrernte

Arandic songs: Aboriginal verbal art in Central Australia

Source: Myfany Turpin / ELAR

Archive deposit: documentation of 28 different Arandic song series and/or song styles from the northern Arandic group of languages of Central Australia, including Arandic people’s interpretations of the songs and their broader meanings, and linguistic and musical features of the performances and the song interpretations. Represents languages Kaytetye, Alyawarr, Anmatyerr, Eastern Arrernte and Warlpiri. Like all ELAR deposits, this material is accessible according to access protocols and access may require negotiation with the depositor.

http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0019

This is the date when the item first appeared in this virtual library. It may have been changed or updated since then.14/06/2015

 

Central Australia | NT Language Centre Support Program

Source: Margaret Carew/Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics, Batchelor Institute

A program supporting Central Australian languages through innovative projects such as the Kaytetye Bird App and the Iltyem-iltyem website for teaching and learning Central Australian sign languages, and many more resources for Arrernte, Warlpiri, Alyawarr, Anmatyerr and other languages.

http://central.batchelor.edu.au/

This is the date when the item first appeared in this virtual library. It may have been changed or updated since then.10/04/2015

 

e-Baibul: Bible Text in Australian Aboriginal Languages

Source: Summer Institute of Linguistics (AuSIL)

Bible texts for 14 languages. These are provided by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (in Australia branded as AuSIL) as a "ministry tool" but made openly accessible. Includes text, audio (note, some spoken by non-Aboriginal persons), concordances, and downloadable software.

http://aboriginalbibles.org.au/

This is the date when the item first appeared in this virtual library. It may have been changed or updated since then.10/04/2015

 

Living the Language - Australia: The Aboriginal People

Source: Al Jazeera

A detailed film report by Al Jazeera on the history of the destruction of Aboriginal languages, the story of those surviving, and the efforts of people to revive their languages. Features speakers of Darug (a particularly impressive contribution by Richard Green), Arrernte (John Cavenagh), Gumbaynggirr (Michael Jarrett), Pitjanatjara and others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIKHlne7aHs

This is the date when the item first appeared in this virtual library. It may have been changed or updated since then.17/10/2015

 

The Spoken Word: Keeping the Aboriginal Language Strong

Source: Christobel Swann

Christobel Swann is a Conservationist who works as an Aboriginal Linguist in Alice Springs. She gives a personal and community perspective on the state of languages, especially her own, southern Arrernte.

http://www.bri.net.au/spokenword.html

This is the date when the item first appeared in this virtual library. It may have been changed or updated since then.15/07/2000