The informal English speech of Palm Island Aboriginal children, North Queensland: a study of the structure of the conversational English of Aboriginal children aged from nine to fourteen years on Palm Island, and a comparison of this structure with that o

Abstract

This study begins by describing the grammatical and lexical characteristics of the informal conversation of a group of four boys aged between twelve and fourteen years on Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement, North Queensland. The phonological characteristics of this same material have previously been described in my dissertation Some Phonological Aspects of Palm Island Aboriginal English, 1964.The conclusions readied in the present study concerning the grammatical and lexical characteristics of this material were first correlated with those reached in the earlier dissertation concerning its phonological characteristics.The combined conclusions were then tested on a wide range of data obtained from other speakers on Palm Island, as well as from others at Cherbourg, Yarrabah, and on the Northern Peninsula Reserve, and some Torres Strait Islands.The theoretical framework and descriptive procedures adopted for this work were those of Professor K.L.Pike.The structure of informal Aboriginal English is described in terms of three hierarchies of units - the phonological, lexical, and grammatical hierarchies. Those of the phonological hierarchy are phonological phrase, phonological word, syllable, and phoneme; those of the lexical hierarchy are lexical sentence group, sentence, clause, phrase, word, and morpheme; those of the grammatical hierarchy are grammatical sentence group, sentence, clause, phrase, word, and tagmeme.All units are conceived of as being trimodally structured. Each unit is therefore defined in respect to contrast, variation, and distribution. This concept is explained in detail in the body of this thesis.Lexical units, or parts thereof, are said to manifest grammatical units, units of the three hierarchies overlap and interlace: their nuclei and. borders are not always coincidental or co-terminous. The complex interrelation and interdependence of the phonological, lexical, and grammatical hierarchies of the data studied, in detail is discussed and illustrated in section 2.63 below.Aboriginal English has a low degree of intelligibility for non-Aboriginal Australian listeners. This has already been demonstrated in my previous dissertation. The results of the present study show that the low degree of intelligibility of informal Aboriginal English for the non-Aboriginal Australian listener is due, not merely to the particular phonological, grammatical, and lexical characteristics of the material, but also to the interrelation of these.When the conclusions of the detailed analysis of the speech of the four selected informants were tested on a wider range of data collected from Palm Island they were found not to require radical modification. However, clear evidence of idiolectal variation was found in the informal English of Aboriginal children. Informants also vary their style of speaking in different social situations. Thus, when they are talking to the research worker their speech is more readily intelligible than when they are speaking informally among themselves.Comparison of Aboriginal English of Palm Island with that of Cherbourg, Yarrabah and the Northern Peninsula reserve revealed a general similarity of phonological, lexical and grammatical features, but also some minor differences in grammar and lexis. However, a test of the intelligibility of the Cherbourg material on Palm Island children suggested that these differences are insufficient to impair mutual intelligibility.Finally, a comparison of Palm Island Aboriginal English with that of Torres Strait Island children reveals distinctive differences. The two varieties overlap in the speech community at Bamaga on the Northern peninsula deserve.The present study presents a total linguistic description of the characteristics of Palm Island Aboriginal English. It has correlated these findings with observations on similar material from other areas in Queensland, and with those of similar studies under the Queensland Speech Survey. A more complete view has thus been obtained of the linguistic characteristics of informal Aboriginal English in Queensland. However, the full import of these findings can be judged only when those of the whole of the Queensland Speech Survey have been stated.The plan of this thesis is that generally favoured for technical studies. The thesis begins by stating the aims of the project. It then reviews previous studies in the field and other pertinent literature, devoting special attention to the discussion of Pike's theory and descriptive procedure. The plan of the project is then outlined and the analysis procedures and relevant background information stated. The significant results which emerge from the investigation are discussed, and a summary of results is given in conclusion.