Some Notes on Nhanda, as Spoken by Mrs. Lucy Ryder (1919-2003)

Abstract

(a.k.a. Nhanta, Nanda) is an Aboriginal language once spoken in coastal regions north and south of Murchison River in what is now Western Australia (Dixon 1980:xviii, Map 2, 154; Dixon 2002:xxviii, Map 0.1, WGb. Cf. Tindale 1974; Thieberger 1993, section 4.3 map, 4.3.10). Published linguistic descriptions of this language include early nineteenth-century wordlists, a short sketch in O'Grady, Voegelin, and Voegelin (1966), and my own sketch grammar (Blevins 2001a), based primarily on speech of a single speaker, late Mrs. Lucy Ryder (1919-2003). More recent publications mentioning linguistic features of include Blevins (2001b, 2001c), Dixon (2002), and Laughren (2003). In contrast to Dixon (2002:xxx, xxxviii), who includes Blevins's (2001a) description of as a full or fullish grammar of good or quite good quality, a recent critique by Gerritsen (2004) questions validity of description as a whole. Gerritsen's concerns cover a range of issues from proper fieldwork methodology to accuracy of descriptions and purported contact influence from Dutch. The purpose of this note is to clarify points where misinterpretation could arise, and to refer interested reader to linguistic studies where issues in are discussed more fully. (1) The most serious issue raised by Gerritsen is who the legitimate speakers of Nhanda are (Gerritsen 2004:89). In his opinion, the validity of identifying Ryder as a speaker is open to question (90). Here, Gerritsen misinterprets basis of my own assessment of this issue, and simplifies many factors playing a role in language identification. First, and foremost, it is important to recognize that I describe in Blevins 2001a is, except where noted otherwise, as spoken by Mrs. Lucy Ryder. Identifying her language as Nhanda, as term is used by sources in first paragraph above, was relatively straightforward. Mrs. Ryder was brought up speaking with, among others, her mother, Mrs. Mary Morgan, and her uncle, Mr. Watty Barker. Both individuals had passed away before my arrival in Australia, but Mrs. Morgan and Mr. Barker were both identified as speakers by Ken Hale during his fieldwork in same area (Ken Hale, pers. comm. 1992). Apart from this, all phonological and morphological peculiarities specific to as described by earlier researchers were found in Mrs. Ryder's speech, and tapes of Mr. Barker allowed me to verify similarities in phonetic detail as well. As Mrs. Marshall (and Mrs. Ryder) did not speak other Aboriginal languages, while another speaker, Mr. Jack Councillor, interviewed by Ken Hale and Geoffrey O'Grady in 1960 (O'Grady 2001:228; Nash and O'Grady 2001:234), also spoke Malgana, I attributed differences in speech of Mrs. Ryder and Mr. Councillor to either dialect differences, or interference from Malgana in Mr. Councillor's speech. All linguistic evidence, then, points to Mrs. Lucy Ryder as a speaker of Nhanda, as term was used in earlier linguistic descriptions. Given Gerritsen's awareness of importance of linguistic studies as a significant element in substantiation of Native Title claims (Gerritsen 2004:89), it is all more surprising that he would question, without any supporting linguistic evidence, Mrs. Ryder as a legitimate speaker of Nhanda. Another serious criticism raised by Gerritsen (2004:88-89) concerns fieldwork practice. Ideally, field linguists should work with multiple speakers, so that features that may be uniquely associated with an individual are not attributed to language as a whole, and so that variation and diversity at all levels of grammar for a given language, dialect, or speech style can be properly described. However, this is not always possible, and where salvage work is involved, it can be especially difficult. Nevertheless, with help of Mrs. Ryder's family and Yamaji Language Centre, I sought out other speakers of Nhanda, and where possible made appointments to work with them. …