Pitjantjatjara language change: some observations and recommendations

Abstract

Pitjantjatjara is often regarded as a robust language with more than 3000 speakers, including children, across a range of communities. Nevertheless, the language has been affected by colonialism and many community members are concerned about language change. In this paper, Anangu educators from Pukatja/Ernabella work together with a non-Indigenous linguist to survey changes we have noticed in the language and to make recommendations for the future. We report changes in pronunciation, grammar and the ways the language is used. In some cases, these changes result directly from contact between languages or other changes in the cultural setting of people speaking Pitjantjatjara today. We see the..