Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi

This book is an exploration of the role of language at Warruwi Community, a remote Indigenous settlement in northern Australia. It explores how language use and people’s ideas about language are embedded in contemporary Indigenous life there. Using an ethnographic approach, the book examines what la...

Disgrifiad llawn

Wedi'i Gadw mewn:
Manylion Llyfryddiaeth
Prif Awdur: Singer, Ruth
Fformat: Online
Iaith:Saesneg
Cyhoeddwyd: Taylor & Francis 2026
Pynciau:
Mynediad Ar-lein:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111122
Tagiau: Ychwanegu Tag
Dim Tagiau, Byddwch y cyntaf i dagio'r cofnod hwn!
_version_ 1869531172216766464
author Singer, Ruth
author_browse Singer, Ruth
author_facet Singer, Ruth
author_sort Singer, Ruth
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This book is an exploration of the role of language at Warruwi Community, a remote Indigenous settlement in northern Australia. It explores how language use and people’s ideas about language are embedded in contemporary Indigenous life there. Using an ethnographic approach, the book examines what language at Warruwi means in the context of the history of the community, ongoing social and political changes and the continuing importance of ancestral traditions. Children growing up at Warruwi still learn to speak many small Indigenous languages. This is remarkable not just in the Australian context, where many Indigenous languages are no longer spoken, but around the world as this kind of multilingualism in small languages persists only in a few remaining pockets. The way that people use many languages in their daily life at Warruwi reveals how high levels of linguistic diversity can be maintained in a small community. This detailed study of the creation of linguistic diversity is relevant to sociolinguistics, linguistic typology, historical linguistics and evolutionary linguistics. More generally, this book is for linguists, anthropologists and anyone with an interest in contemporary Australian Indigenous lives. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com , has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
format Online
id doab-20.500.12854ir-173978
institution Directory of Open Access Books
language eng
publishDate 2026
publishDateRange 2026
publishDateSort 2026
publisher Taylor & Francis
publisherStr Taylor & Francis
record_format ojs
spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1739782026-03-19T14:34:03Z Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi Singer, Ruth Sociolinguistic fieldwork Language maintenance strategies Ethnographic language study Language contact dynamics Small language communities Intergenerational language transmission Multilingualism in remote Australian communities Western Arnhem Land Arnhem Land Young Man Language Ideologies Eastern Arnhem Land Receptive Multilingual Common Language Language Portraits Father’s Language Linguistic Biographies Remote Indigenous Communities Clan Estates Cape York Peninsula Indigenous Languages thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFD Psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics::CFDM Bilingualism and multilingualism thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics This book is an exploration of the role of language at Warruwi Community, a remote Indigenous settlement in northern Australia. It explores how language use and people’s ideas about language are embedded in contemporary Indigenous life there. Using an ethnographic approach, the book examines what language at Warruwi means in the context of the history of the community, ongoing social and political changes and the continuing importance of ancestral traditions. Children growing up at Warruwi still learn to speak many small Indigenous languages. This is remarkable not just in the Australian context, where many Indigenous languages are no longer spoken, but around the world as this kind of multilingualism in small languages persists only in a few remaining pockets. The way that people use many languages in their daily life at Warruwi reveals how high levels of linguistic diversity can be maintained in a small community. This detailed study of the creation of linguistic diversity is relevant to sociolinguistics, linguistic typology, historical linguistics and evolutionary linguistics. More generally, this book is for linguists, anthropologists and anyone with an interest in contemporary Australian Indigenous lives. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com , has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. 2026-03-19T14:34:00Z 2026-03-19T14:34:00Z 2026-03-02T18:19:51Z 2023 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111122 9781000829884 9781000829907 9781003244363 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/173978 eng Routledge Studies in Linguistic Anthropology open access image/jpeg n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/111122/1/9781000829884.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781003244363 10.4324/9781003244363 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 9781000829884 9781000829907 9781003244363 Routledge 198 Oxford open access
spellingShingle Sociolinguistic fieldwork
Language maintenance strategies
Ethnographic language study
Language contact dynamics
Small language communities
Intergenerational language transmission
Multilingualism in remote Australian communities
Western Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land
Young Man
Language Ideologies
Eastern Arnhem Land
Receptive Multilingual
Common Language
Language Portraits
Father’s Language
Linguistic Biographies
Remote Indigenous Communities
Clan Estates
Cape York Peninsula
Indigenous Languages
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFD Psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics::CFDM Bilingualism and multilingualism
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics
Singer, Ruth
Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi
title Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi
title_full Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi
title_fullStr Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi
title_full_unstemmed Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi
title_short Indigenous Multilingualism at Warruwi
title_sort indigenous multilingualism at warruwi
topic Sociolinguistic fieldwork
Language maintenance strategies
Ethnographic language study
Language contact dynamics
Small language communities
Intergenerational language transmission
Multilingualism in remote Australian communities
Western Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land
Young Man
Language Ideologies
Eastern Arnhem Land
Receptive Multilingual
Common Language
Language Portraits
Father’s Language
Linguistic Biographies
Remote Indigenous Communities
Clan Estates
Cape York Peninsula
Indigenous Languages
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFD Psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics::CFDM Bilingualism and multilingualism
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics
topic_facet Sociolinguistic fieldwork
Language maintenance strategies
Ethnographic language study
Language contact dynamics
Small language communities
Intergenerational language transmission
Multilingualism in remote Australian communities
Western Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land
Young Man
Language Ideologies
Eastern Arnhem Land
Receptive Multilingual
Common Language
Language Portraits
Father’s Language
Linguistic Biographies
Remote Indigenous Communities
Clan Estates
Cape York Peninsula
Indigenous Languages
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFD Psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics::CFDM Bilingualism and multilingualism
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies::JBSL11 Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::5 Interest qualifiers::5P Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests::5PB Relating to peoples: ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, cultures and other groupings of people::5PBA Relating to Indigenous peoples
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111122
work_keys_str_mv AT singerruth indigenousmultilingualismatwarruwi