Gavan Breen
Gavan Breen, born 22 January 1935,[1] is an Australian linguist, specializing in the description of Australian Aboriginal languages. He has studied and recorded 49 such languages. [2]
Career
Breen was born at St Arnaud in the Wimmera district of the state of Victoria and received his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Ballarat (1948-1952)where he matriculated as Dux in his final year.[3] He went on to study at Newman College, graduating as a metallurgist from Melbourne University. He was thinking of somewhere to take a holiday break and a job when, in 1967, he chanced to listen to a public lecture at his university, in which the need to record dying languages was mentioned. The work was well paid, and Breen took a grant to do a master's degree at Monash University, working initially with the last speakers of the Warluwarra language, and later with the Woorabinda people,[4] and decided that this was where his vocation lay.[2][1] He was appointed a research fellow at Monash, and there worked on the Bidjara and Gungabula languages and Pitta Pitta with Barry Blake.[5]
Breen's work, which has extended over many distinct language groups in western and central Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia, was mostly done under the auspices of He is presently a member of the AIATSIS. Though Breen officially retired in 2001,[1] he continues to work at the Institute of Aboriginal Development in Alice Springs.[2] He has also offered his expertise in legal cases, helping native peoples establish their claims to native title.[1] On 26 January 2016, Breen was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.[1]
Tasaku Tsunoda has suggested that, having worked with literally dozens of individuals who were the last speakers of a variety of Australian languages, Breen can be said to be the last speaker of the languages he has described, since he retains a working knowledge, if partial, of an otherwise extinct language.[6]
Salvaged languages
Languages Breen has helped to salvage include:
- Warluwarra
- Bidjara.[7]
- Gungabula. [7]
- The Antekerrepenhe dialect of Upper Arrernte.[8]
- The Mayabic languages and dialects.[9]
- The Yalarnnga language.[10]
- The Innamincka dialect of Yandruwandha.[11] [12]
Notes and references
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 Volling 2016.
- 1 2 3 Sleath 2014.
- ↑ Nolan 2016.
- ↑ BIOITE 2016.
- ↑ O'Donnell 1973, p. 50.
- ↑ Tsunoda 2005, p. 41.
- 1 2 Breen 1973.
- ↑ Breen 2016, p. 139.
- ↑ Breen 1981.
- ↑ Breen 2007.
- ↑ Breen (a) 2015.
- ↑ Breen (b) 2015.
References
- Breen, Gavan (1973). Bidyara and Gungabula : grammar and vocabulary. Monash University.
- Breen, Gavan (1981). The Mayi Languages of the Queensland Gulf Country. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. ISBN 978-0-858-83567-2.
- Breen, Gavan (1990). Salvage Studies of Western Queensland Aboriginal Languages. Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies. ISBN 978-0-858-83401-9.
- Breen, Gavan; Blake, Barry J. (2007). The grammar of Yalarnnga: a language of western Queensland. Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies. ISBN 978-3-110-18429-7.
- Breen (a), Gavan (2015) [2004]. Innamincka Talk: A grammar of the Innamincka dialect of Yandruwandha. Australian National University. ISBN 978-1-921-93420-9.
- Breen (b), Gavan (2015) [2004]. Innamincka Words: Yandruwandha dictionary and stories. Australian National University. ISBN 978-1-921-93422-3.
- Breen, Gavan (2016). "W E Roth and the Study of Aboriginal Languages in Queensland". In McDougall, Russell; Davidson, Iain. The Roth Family, Anthropology, and Colonial Administration. Routledge. pp. 133–155. ISBN 978-1-315-41728-8.
- "Honour for Gavan Breen". Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. 2016.
- Nolan, Paul (2016). "Old Boy's Australia Day honour". St Patrick's College, Ballarat.
- O'Donnell, Mietta (2 April 1973). "Bid to save native languages from extinction" (PDF). Monash Reporter.
- Sleath, Emma (24 April 2014). "Veteran linguist's work preserved". ABC News.
- Volling, Tom (26 January 2016). "Alice man's crusade to save indigenous languages honoured with OAM". Northern Territory News.
- Tsunoda, Tasaku (2005). Endangerment and Language Revitalization: An Introduction. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-110-18429-7.