The Duungidjawu language of southeast
Queensland: Grammar, texts and vocabulary
By Suzanne Kite and Stephen Wurm
In the late 1950s and early
1960s, before he began work on the languages of New Guinea,
Stephen Wurm undertook considerable fieldwork on languages
of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. His fullest
materials were on Duu_idjawu, spoken just to the northwest
of Brisbane, and were recorded between 1955 and 1964. Wurm
was generous in making his materials available to selected
researchers, and in 1997, an arrangement was made with Wurm
for Suzanne Kite to write an MA thesis analysing these materials.
These consisted of tapes and transcriptions, with WurmÕs translations
of these in his own shorthand, which only he could read. When
he was in Canberra, Wurm would spend one or two afternoons
each week going over these materials with Kite, explaining
the shorthand and reviving his knowledge of the language.
He had never written a draft grammar of Duungidjawu, but effectively
had one in his head. It was hard to remember things exactly
after a period of almost forty years and Kite sometimes mediated
between what was on the tapes and WurmÕs explications during
their collaboration. Stephen Wurm passed away in late 2001,
after the thesis had been approved but before this work could
be published.
This is a slightly revised version of Kite's thesis. It comprises
an invaluable record of the language of the Duungidjawu people,
and through this of their traditions, customs and laws. It
is the only substantial record of a language which differs
in various respects from prototypical non-prefixing Australian
languages. It has five vowels and a fair number of monosyllabic
words. Pronouns and nouns referring to humans or to dogs have
distinct case forms. Following the grammar sketch are all
the texts recorded by Wurm and a full vocabulary and thesaurus.
All Wurm's information was provided by Willie McKenzie, believed
to be about eighty years old in October 1955. He died in 1965.
Published: 2004
PL 553, ISBN 0 85883 550 9
Pages: xiii + 298
Prices:Australia A$88.00 (inc. GST), Overseas
A$80.00
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