- Lower Arrernte
Lower Arrernte is one of five
aboriginal dialects (Western, Eastern, Central, Southern, and Lower Arrernte), all spoken by a few thousand people around theAlice Springs region inCentral Australia . Lower Arrernte originates from theFinke river area, close to Alice Springs.Lower Arrernte is a dying language. Only one person is known to speak it fluently enough to hold a conversation - Brownie Doolan, who doesn't know his exact age but should be in his early nineties. He learned the language from his mother and grandmother.
Gavan Breen , an Australianlinguist , has been able to compile a dictionary of Lower Arrernte comprising about a thousand words by recording talks he had with Doolan.Sources
*http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22448699-5006790,00.html
*http://www.omniglot.com/writing/arrernte.htm
*http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/arrernte4.html
*http://www.usmob.com.au/factsheets/Fact_Sheet_03.pdf
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