Aboriginal languages - including transcription by missionaries

Rob's talk will discuss the Aboriginal language families of Australia, the impact of colonisation, the important role of missionaries, and the modern reclamation of some of these languages  particularly the Kaurna language of the Adelaide plains

Rob Shepherd has led Secondary schools and worked internationally and embraced the value of languages and language reclamation. He is a Kaurna language speaker and his talk will discuss the Aboriginal language families of Australia, the impact of colonisation on these languages, the important role of missionaries, particularly German Missionaries in the recording in written form in the 19th century. The spatial distribution of language groups and some language conventions will be described. Rob will discuss the loss of Aboriginal languages, the modern reclamation of some of these and particularly the Kaurna language of the Adelaide plains. He will describe the growth of Aboriginal English as a recognised dialect. Reclamation methodologies will described and how Aboriginal languages have become a part of modern Australia.