Learning from how Australia’s First Nations languages express gender

Gender in language – it’s a tricky area these days. More and more languages are adapting to better respect non-binary and transgender people.

Many Indigenous languages in Australia already don’t have gendered nouns or pronouns.  And some have other interesting approaches to genders to learn from.

Paul Williams, a Gamilaraay linguist at the University of Queensland, joined us on the Thursday Daily this morning. He’s involved in research projects centred around Indigenous language maintenance and revitalisation, and has recently explored gender in particular.

Related Links

Article in The Conversation: Most of Australia’s First Nations languages don’t have gendered pronouns. Here’s why.

Book co-authored by Gari Tudor-Smith, Paul Williams and Felicity Meakins: Bina: First Nations Languages, Old and New