Australia is the 6th largest country in the world but it’s also the world’s smallest continent.

Translating from English to Aboriginal Languages

This is a difficult topic because there’s no single Aboriginal word for an English word.

People with obviously good intentions, but little or no knowledge of Aboriginal languages, will often ask an Aboriginal person: What is the Aboriginal word for…? What they don’t realize is that, prior to colonization, there were about 250 languages, and many of these languages had several dialects. So the question ‘What is the Aboriginal word for…’ for is probably similar to asking: ‘What is the European word for…?’

 The only way one could answer this question would require the following investigation –

The Place: Which region of Australia are you referring to? This will determine the main language group and its dialects;

The Language Status: Is this a lost language or is it still being spoken? There have been many language preservation projects, but unfortunately only a quarter of the Aboriginal languages are still spoken today;

Translation Resource: You will need to do your research in libraries if the last speaker of this language has passed on. It’s true that some translations were recorded by early invaders, but they’re often not complete and they’re very strongly biased towards Western culture.

Perhaps the real question is: Are you seeking to enjoy the mystic feeling of something Aboriginal, or do you have a serious need for this translation?

Aboriginal History

Aboriginal history grows both forward into the present and backwards into the past, with new scientific methods indicating that archaeological sites in Australia are much older than were originally thought. In fact, the origin of Australia’s Aboriginal people is not entirely clear – some studies have linked Aboriginal people to the first African nomads, with one study determining that Aboriginal people descended from the original people leaving Africa more than 75,000 years ago – reaching Asia around 24,000 years before other human migrants. Yet another study discovered that a primitive group of humans descended from the Neanderthals, migrating from Siberia to tropical regions of Asia. Their DNA has contributed to Aboriginal people in Australia together with an Aboriginal tribe of the Philippines and present-day New Guineans. It’s reported that this gene-mixing occurred 44,000 years ago, long before Australia separated from Papua New Guinea. Scientific methods are now placing the origin of Homo Sapiens in Australia, and not Africa.

Australian English

Australian English was first recorded as being spoken by the generation of children born to the original colonists in New South Wales. This generation of children developed a new dialect which ultimately became the language of Australia. The children were exposed to various dialects from other settlers who arrived in Australia from different areas of the British Isles, but specifically Ireland and the south-east areas of England. This new dialect grew -  continually developing and becoming stronger; strong enough to resist change from an ever increasing number of settlers. In 1820 it was officially recognised as a different language to standard British English.

Australian English also absorbed some elements from Aboriginal languages. Some of these words have become colloquialisms in many areas of Australia, while other words such as dingo and boomerang, have become recognised around the world. There was further development of Australian English during World War II when many American English terms were introduced, and thus adopted.

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