| In per capita terms, Maningrida is perhaps the most multilingual community in the world. People speak Ndjébbana, eastern Kunwinjku, Kune, Rembarrnga, Dangbon/Dalabon, Nakkara, Gurrgoni, Djinang, Wurlaki, Ganalbingu, Gupapuyngu, Kunbarlang, Gun-nartpa, Burarra and English. Most people have command of three, four or more of these languages.
Traditionally, none of the Aboriginal languages were written. Since European contact, linguists, educators and language speakers have developed writing systems for these languages. The orthographies are all based on the Roman alphabet but some use different symbols for the same sounds. For example, the Burarra spelling of the subsection name Ngarrichan is written as Ngarridjdjan in Eastern Kunwinjku orthography. People dislike seeing their own language written in the orthography of another. While at first the different spellings appear confusing they reflect Aboriginal people’s pride in the linguistic diversity of the Maningrida area.
Amongst the complex social networks of kinship and ceremonial linkage in Aboriginal society, language is one of the most important markers of social identity. Aboriginal people often identify the social groupings that they belong to in terms of the language that they speak. Aboriginal cultures are unique, and every Aboriginal language encompasses a world of knowledge that is also unique to that culture. The intense multilingualism of the Maningrida area community is testimony to the strength and resilience of Aboriginal ceremonial life, environmental knowledge and social organisation within the wider Australian community. |
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