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Australian Kriol also known as Roper River Kriol, Fitzroy Valley Kriol, Northern Australian Creole or Aboriginal English[4] is an English-based creole language that developed from a pidgin used initially in the region of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, in the early days of European colonisation. Later, it was spoken by groups further west and north. The pidgin died out in most parts of the country, except in the Northern Territory, where the contact between European settlers, the Chinese and other Asians, and the Aboriginal Australians in the northern regions has maintained a vibrant use of the language, which is spoken by about 30,000 people. Despite its similarities to English in vocabulary, it has a distinct syntactic structure and grammar. It is a language in its own right and is distinct from Torres Strait Creole.
| Australian Kriol | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Roper River, Katherine areas, Ngukurr, Northern Territory; Kimberley, Western Australia; Gulf Country, Lower Cape York Peninsula, Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Aboriginal Australians |
Native speakers | 7,500 (2021 census)[1] L2 speakers: 10,000 (1991)[2] |
English Creole
| |
Early forms | |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | rop |
| Glottolog | krio1252 |
| AIATSIS[3] | P1 |
| Linguasphere | 52-ABB-ca (varieties: |
History
editThe first records of the progenitor to Kriol, a pidgin called Port Jackson Pidgin English are found from the 1780's with the pidgin being used for communication between the white settlers around Port Jackson and the local indigenous population.[5] European settlement in the Northern Territory was attempted over a period of about forty years. Settlement finally succeeded in 1870 with the founding of Darwin, and an influx of both English and Chinese speakers followed. To communicate between both groups and the local Aboriginal people, pidgins developed throughout the territory based on Port Jackson Pidgin English (PJPE). By 1900 PJPE had developed into Northern Territory Pidgin English (NTPE) was widespread and well understood. Then by 1908 NTPE would creolize into Australian Kriol.[6]
It creolized first in the Roper River Mission (Ngukurr), where cattle stations were established and a township developed.
During that period, relations between the native and European people were strained. Aboriginal people fiercely defended their lands. However, the control of lands was eventually seized by the settlers, when a cattle company acquired much of the area. The settlers became more determined to take full control of the land from the native people and carried out a campaign to do so.
The resettlements and land seizures nearly annihilated the indigenous population was a major factor in the development of the creole, as it created drastic social change.
Another factor in the development of Kriol was the establishment of a community of Anglican missionaries in the Roper River region in 1908. That brought together around 200 people from eight different aboriginal ethnic groups, who spoke different native languages, Although adult members of these groups were multilingual because of frequent meetings and ceremonies. Children from these groups were educated in English, necessitating use of a lingua franca. Children from these communities disseminates English features throughout their community.
Although the relations between the missionaries and Aboriginal people were friendly, the missionaries were not responsible for the development of Kriol. In fact, they tried to introduce Standard English as the official language for the mission, which the Aboriginal children used in class and with the missionaries, but Kriol still flourished.
Kriol was not recognized as a language until the 1970s, as it was regarded as a dialect of English, rather than a language in its own right.
Grammar
editAs a general rule the grammar of Kriol is a simplified version of that found in English. Kriol uses an SVO word order exclusively. In Kriol the order of possessor and possessum varies with it being evenly split between possessor possessum and possessum possessor.[7] In Kriol word order is evenly split between Verb object adverb and Adverb verb object.[8]
Word order is used over inflections or subject object affixation or verbs to specify meaning.[9] Kriol pronouns differentiate between different between first, second and third person, as well as between singular, plural, and dual plural inclusive and exclusive pronouns first person. The language also differentiates between Subject, Object, Independent Pronoun, and Adnominal Possessive. There are also Reflexive and Reciprocal pronouns There is a large variety in the specific pronouns and they vary largely between dialects.[10]
Phonology
edit| Labiodental/Interdental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Alveopalatal | Velar | Glottal | Bilabial | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiced Stop | d | rd | j | g | b | ||
| Voiceless Stop | f, th | s | h | ||||
| Nasal Fricative | n | rn | ny | ng | m | ||
| Lateral Fricative | l | rl | ly | ||||
| Rhotics/Semivowels | rr | r | y | w |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
Vocabulary
editThe primary contributing languages of Kriol is English but it received and continues to receive influence from: Alawa, Marra, Ngalakgan, Wandarrang, Mangarrayi, Ngandi, Nunggubuyu, Jawoyn, Dalabon, Rembarrnga, Barunga, Beswick, Jaminjung, Ngarinyman, Wardaman, Walmatjari, Djaru, Miriwoong, and Gija.[10]
Orthography
editThe Kriol alphabet is based off of the English Alphabet but varies not only in what letter and digraphs are used but also in the rules for said letters and digraphs. Unlike in english spelling each phoneme in Kriol can only be made with one letter unlike in English where several different letters can spellings can be used to make the same sound. Kriol unlike english also uses a Phonetic Orthography in which words are spelled to match how they sound.[11]
The Kriol alphabet contains 21 letters 11 consonant digraphs 5 Vowel digraphs and 5 punctuation marks.[11]
Letters: A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, W, Y
Consonant Digraphs: Ly, Ng, Ny, Rd, Rl, Rn, Rr, Rt, Sh, Th, Tj
Vowel Digraphs: Ai, Au, Ei, Oi, Ou
Punctuation Marks: Period (.), Comma (,), Question mark (?), Exclamation mark (!) , Quotation marks (" ")
Dialects
editDialects of Kriol include Roper River Kriol (Roper River Pidgin), Bamyili Creole (from the Barunga area), Barkly Kriol, Fitzroy Valley Kriol, and Daly River Kriol.[2] Of the various dialects those spoken in the Roper River and Barunga area are best documented.[12]
Kriol is very widely spoken in the Katherine area, but there are minor differences between the varieties of Kriol spoken in particular areas. Some speakers of Kriol prefer to refer to their language by their unique name. However, the varieties are quite similar.
The differences are not actually that large. Mari Rhydwen compares the distinction to the distinction between American and British English.
Roper River (Ngukurr) Kriol is also spoken in Barunga, and in the Daly River area, a mutually-intelligible variety is spoken, but Daly River speakers do not consider themselves to be Kriol speakers. There is the question of whether the varieties should be understood as different forms of Kriol to strengthen the identities of the respective region, or they all should be seen as Kriol and potentially have a better chance of funding for bilingual education programs.
Creolization
editThere is also a creole language based off a mix of Kriol and Gurindji called Gurndji Creole which was formed by pervasive code switching between Kriol and Gurnidji.[13]
Status
editThe Kriol language unlike many other aboriginal languages is healthy with most of it's speakers under the age of 30. 99% of Kriol speakers are aboriginals with only 0.8% being part of other groups. This shows that Kriol is an insider language only used within a community. Kriol speakers mainly use the language orally with there being low literacy rates. Though there are groups and initiatives working to increase the usage of Kriol literacy and usage in media by teaching Kriol literacy, creating new works in Kriol, and translating pre existing works into Kriol.[14][15]
There are various views and opinions on the Kriol language. Some deny that it is even it's own language simply referring to it as English or insisting those who speak Kriol are just speaking English poorly. Others view the language as a threat because it encroaches on other older aboriginal languages. While some take pride in it and try to support it. Government support for Kriol is limited with there being only two bilingual language programs in Barunga and Ngukurr though the one in Barunga has closed though they both have successfully included Kriol as both a medium and an object of study.[15][14][16]
Media
editMany famous pieces of media such Shakespeare and Waltzing Matilda have been translated into Kriol and many books have been published in Kriol. Online there are several videos and texts available in Kriol, as well as resources for learning the language. There is also currently an Australian Kriol Wikipedia currently on the Wikimedia Incubator.
Bible translation
editOn 5 May 2007, the first complete edition of the Bible in the Kriol language was launched at Katherine in the Northern Territory. Translation took over 29 years. It was undertaken by a team of native Kriol speakers led by Rev. Canon Gumbuli Wurrumara and specialists from the Society for Australian Indigenous Languages.
The Kriol Bible is the first complete edition of the Bible in any Indigenous Australian language. The publication was a joint venture of The Bible Society, Lutheran Bible Translators, The Church Missionary Society, the Anglican church, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and the Australian Society of Indigenous Languages.[17]
Sample text
edit| Kriol[18][16] | English[19][16] |
|---|---|
| Orait, longtaim wen God bin stat meigimbat ebrijing, nomo enijing bin jidan. Imbin jis eniwei, nomo garram enijing. Oni strongbala woda bin goran goran ebriwei, en imbin brabli dakbala, en det Spirit blanga God bin mubabat ontop langa det woda. | In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. |
| Wen ola bigini dun Kriol la skul, im album alabat jidan strongbala. La run 33 alabat bin dum profail, bla dalim wi "hu yu?". La Rum 12, alabat bin drodrobat alabat femili en raidimdan wani dei gulum alabat gada Kriol | Our Kriol programs help students feel strong about themselves. In Room 33, students have been completing Kriol profiles about themselves while in Room 12, students did some great family portraits with all the labels in Kriol. |
References
edit- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ a b Australian Kriol at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ P1 Australian Kriol at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ a b The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures. Oxford. p. 1.
- ^ Sharpe, Margret C. Kriol - An Australian Language Resource. p. 178.
- ^ Harris, John W. (1 January 1988). "Northern Territory Pidgin English: A Lexical Study". English World-Wide. 9 (1): 77–99. doi:10.1075/eww.9.1.06har. ISSN 0172-8865.
- ^ "APiCS Online -". apics-online.info. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ "APiCS Online -". apics-online.info. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ a b Margaret, Sharpe (1978). Papers in Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (4th ed.). pp. 182–185.
- ^ a b "APiCS Online - Survey chapter: Kriol". apics-online.info. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ a b Sandefur, John R. (1984). Work Papers of Sil-Aab. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Australian Aborigines Branch. pp. 69, 74–75. ISBN 0-86892-297-8.
- ^ Schultze-Berndt, Eva; Angelo, Denise (2013), "Kriol structure dataset", Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online, Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, retrieved 17 August 2024
- ^ "UQ eSpace". espace.library.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ a b "APiCS Online - Survey chapter: Kriol". apics-online.info. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ a b "2021 Census: Kriol a growing language - Meigim Kriol Strongbala". https://meigimkriolstrongbala.org.au/en_au/. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ^ a b c "While many Indigenous languages are disappearing, one has more speakers than ever". SBS News. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ Carroll, Peter J. 2004. From the beginning to Proverbs. The Bible Translator 55.4: 491–497.
- ^ https://ebible.org/pdf/rop/rop_a4.pdf
- ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 1:1-2 - New International Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- Harris, John (1993) "Losing and gaining a language: the story of Kriol in the Northern Territory" in Walsh, M and Yallop, C (eds), Language and Culture in Aboriginal Australia, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.
External links
edit- Meigim Kriol Strongbala Bilingual Kriol-English website providing news and information on Kriol.
- Ngukurr Community site for the main Aboriginal Community producing Kriol language materials.
- Kriol language resources
- Kriol-English Dictionary Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- Crittenden, Stephen (2 May 2007). "First complete Bible translation in an indigenous language". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
- The Kriol Bible, full text Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- Kriol materials from the Barunga bilingual program at the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages
- Roper Gulf Regional Council Retrieved 25 December 2014.