126. Survival: Custodians of the Languages
The Allusionist
Helen Zaltzman
4.7 • 3.8K Ratings
🗓️ 28 November 2020
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Australia, there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of languages. Until English arrived.
Rudi Bremer and Karina Lester talk about the destruction and revival of indigenous Australian languages.
Content note: this episode refers to violence and genocide.
Find more information about the topics in this episode at theallusionist.org/custodians, and listen to the other episodes in the Survival series: Second Home about Welsh in Patagonia; Oot in the Open, about the suppression and revival of Scots; and Bequest, about queer language in Māori; and the pair of Key episodes are about language extinction and preservation.
The Allusionist music is by Martin Austwick. Hear Martin’s songs at palebirdmusic.com or on Spotify, and he’s @martinaustwick on Twitter and Instagram. He also composed the music for the new kids’ science podcast Maddie’s Sound Explorers.
I make two other podcasts, Veronica Mars Investigations and Answer Me This, which are soothingly escapist.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the illusionist in which I, Helen Zoltzman, tap languages knees with a little hammer. |
| 0:10.1 | In the sub-sode we're talking about the first nation's languages of Australia, of which |
| 0:14.8 | there were a lot. |
| 0:16.7 | Then there were not. |
| 0:17.9 | English language, the problematic wave, strikes again. |
| 0:21.3 | Some of the languages have been wiped out. |
| 0:23.2 | Some have only a handful of speakers left. |
| 0:25.8 | But some are in a healthier state. |
| 0:28.7 | Note violence and genocide. |
| 0:32.8 | On with the show. |
| 0:35.7 | Yama, Rudy Brahma Ngaya, Gamilare Ngaya Inar. |
| 0:47.0 | So hi, I'm Rudy Brahma and I'm a Gamilare woman. |
| 0:51.6 | I'm a Murray woman from Gamilare Country. |
| 0:54.2 | I grew up in Sydney. |
| 0:55.8 | I speak a little bit of Gamilare, which is my language, although not as much as I'd like. |
| 1:01.8 | And a lot of my words are things I learn as a kid, so they're not for polite company. |
| 1:09.6 | Interesting. |
| 1:10.6 | Tell me more. |
| 1:12.8 | My mum has these stories about when my brother and I were really small, if people outside |
| 1:17.6 | of our family, baby, they would be really confused when we would ask for Ngamu because |
| 1:23.5 | we're meaning breast milk, Ngamu means boob. |
| 1:27.3 | And so I'm hungry and I don't know what that is. |
... |
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