Congratulations to linguist Professor Felicity Meakins and the research team who have won the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research in the 2021 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.
Bringing together an Indigenous community member, linguist, mathematician and biologist, this team is studying Gurindji, an Indigenous language of northern Australia. Their research is developing new ways to understand the processes of language change and factors that help keep Indigenous languages strong and vibrant.
Professor Meakins has worked for decades with Cassandra Algy from the Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation.
They've documented the way the Indigenous language, Gurindji is used by different generations in the remote communities of Kalkaringi and Daguragu in the Northern Territory.
They connected with Australian National University's evolutionary biologist Lindell Bromham and mathematical biologist Xia Hua through the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (CoEDL), a research network.
This unique team's interdisciplinary research is developing new ways to understand the processes of language change and factors that help keep Indigenous languages strong.
“Mapping language change in Australia is crucial to recognising new ways of speaking and working with First Nations communities towards guiding principles for language revitalisation,” Professor Meakins said.
To find out more about the project, watch video here.
Projects in Science, Business and Humanities have been nominated for the event which is known as the ‘Oscars’ of Australian science.
