Aboriginal Australian (Noun)
Meaning
The Austronesian languages spoken by Australian aborigines.
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The Aboriginal Australian languages are a language family native to the Australian continent and a few nearby islands.
- There are over 250 distinct languages within the Aboriginal Australian language family, although many are considered endangered.
- The Aboriginal Australian languages are not part of the Austronesian language family, despite some linguistic and cultural exchange.
- Some researchers believe that the Aboriginal Australian languages may be related to the Papuan languages of New Guinea, but this is still a topic of debate.
- The study of Aboriginal Australian languages has been hindered by the fact that many were not written down until the arrival of European colonizers.