Australia's Lost Languages

A tribute to the languages spoken for thousands of years by Australia's first people. From the CD 'Balance', by Bruce Watson, featuring Bruce with Tracey Roberts on piano and Gavan McCarthy on bass. See www.brucewatsonmusic.com

Every language lost is a way of seeing the world lost. Many Aboriginal people refer to these languages not as lost but 'sleeping', and are working hard to maintain and re-awaken languages.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Australian Aboriginal
• language
• language loss
• language extinction
• language death
• colonialisation
• culture
• indigenous
• first people
• Aboriginal
• endangered languages
• bruce watson
• folk

[brucewatsonmusic]

Thanks Swimboy2. I wrote the background music to go with the words - a simple chordal alternation, but with some beautiful piano improvisation around the chords by the lovely pianist Tracey Roberts

[AuntieJappa]

Very impressive - and very sad, too. You are a good one!!!

Can you also please do something to show which languages are no longer with us?

Thank you for letting me know. Love to Jill and boys, too. xxxx

[brucewatsonmusic]

@AuntieJappa Thanks.. Perhaps the 2nd slide isn't clear enough, but ALL the languages in the song are no longer actively used. Defining when a language dies is hard, but if there is no-one alive who learnt it as their native tongue, it's no longer 'alive (or 'awake'). The song lists 79 such languages. It could have been much longer (and that's just Aust) - but its enough to make the point. For info on the status of Aus languages, go to FATSIL's website

[bodgiefahey]

Bruce. Back in my old Larrikin days I issued a CD of Queensland Rain Forest Poetry Songs with the last five remaining speakers. Three years later they were all dead and so was their age old language. Congratulations on this fine reminder of disappearing culture. Warren Fahey

[brucewatsonmusic]

@bodgiefahey Warren - that's such a powerful story, and it's not the first time I've heard a story like that. Recording language and grammars is really important, but the key is pride in culture, and while that's happening in lots of places, for many it is too late. Bruce

[GodOfUnbelief]

If I was australian I'd learn at least one of these languages fluently. With such a linguistically diverse and intresting land it be a disgrace to replace them all with English.

[RioLaPaz]

native Australian languages sound so fun and interesting to hear! thanks for this vid!

[Swimboy2]

a beautiful and powerful tribute - what is the name of the background music?



[andrewclermont]

respect

[malwebb1]

Beautifully done, Bruce.