Australian language families and linguistic classifications

Abstract

Extract This material presents classification information for the Indigenous languages of Australia. They include languages spoken in the area now known as Australia prior to 1788, as well as subsequent languages which have arisen through language contact. Languages are grouped by relationship, using the non-Pama-Nyungan/Pama-Nyungan distinction for convenience. I compare the current ‘Bowern’ classification with three others: Dixon (2002), Wurm (1972), and O’Grady, Voegelin, and Voegelin (1966). Other classifications could be used, and others also vary somewhat in the details, but as Walsh (1997b) has noted, the overall number of languages and broad principles of classification have not changed substantially since O’Grady, Voegelin, and Voegelin (1966). That is apparent here, too: though some details vary, and some individual languages are placed in different subgroups or families, there is broad consensus across the classifications. The main difference is in the number of languages, discussed in more detail in Chapter 7 of this volume. This comparison has both some historical value, in seeing how classifications of Australian languages have changed over time and should orient the reader to how the current classification compares to others established in the literature.

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