LOS ESQUIMALES DEL NORTE

As Diagram 2 illustrates, the young Dyirbal speakers at Jambun do not form an homogenous group using Dyirbal as common code of communication. Various forces are at work in the com­ munity which are conducive to this breakdown of Dyirbal interaction. Two major factors are:

a) the important identity function that Dyirbal has for the in-group. Due to its binding role within the group, use of Dyirbal to individuals outside the group may be resisted.

b ) CORRECTIVE MECHANISM. Older speakers attempt to uphold traditional linguistic norms by constantly correcting less

proficient young speakers. As noted in 3*3*2 the less proficient YS often prefer to use Jambun English when speaking to TS.

Certainly Jambun English is acceptable as a distinct language that does not involve violation of Dyirbal traditional norms. By using JE to TS, less fluent YS can communicate more effectively and also avoid the constant upgrading of their "imperfect" Dyirbal.

The main objection by TS appears to be contamination of Y S ’s Dyirbal with English forms. The following is an example of the corrective mechanism in a conversation between a YS and TS. PG (19 years) is speaking her brand of "imperfect Dyirbal" (on my request) to BJ (50+ years). Because she cannot recall the Dyirbal term for "cook", PG substitutes the English term as root and adds the Dyirbal verbal transitivizer [-iman] to incorporate it into the Dyirbal sentence. BJ corrects her, saying that s h e ’s become a white woman by using English words. Note that the TS relies on English terms in order that PG understand the explan­ ation.

s'

PG: j qanaji gotta cook - iman bala you know

J 1PL - TR.VZR NOM IV

We rve got to cook thatj you know.

BJ: j nyajunl

56

PG: 1

₁

cook - TR.VZR INST IV cook NOM IV

[ cook / / cook it

BJ:

f

2sg-N0M white woman - INT.VZR

__

PG: wayi ! nomo

INT NEG

^

BJ: qa ja qina buwanyu you say banyin see that's cut-

< lsg-NOM 2sg-ACC tell slice

I'll teach you. You say 'banyin'3 that means 'cutt

banyin bayi qanaji barri-qgu nyaju-li buni-qga slice NOM I 2PL-N0M axe-INST cook-PURP fire-LOC

J

eat- FUT

We slice it with an axe3 and cook it in the fire to eat.

r not

<

L

cook - iman I [laughter] - TR.VZR

Not "cook-iman" !

Another YS commented on the corrective mechanism:

"When we talkin' to her [TS] in language, sometime we don't know what the word mean an' we say it in English. She'll probably - she'll say - thing

[= what-do-you-call-it] 'Gee, you talk half an' half. Half English, half guwal'."

EJ, 23 years, Aboriginal male, Bilyana.

Some TS are extremely meticulous in upgrading YS speech, eg the Dyirbal kinship system is a complex one. One YS described his mother's (TS) reaction to his collapsing the terms: mother's younger brother and mother's elder brother:

"When I talkin' say when I talk to Uncle, Uncle or anything [like that], when I talk to Mum there, if I say 'Oh, that's my gaya [m.y.b] there.' She'll probably say 'You can't say gaya to me. That's thing. You gotta say mugu [m.e.b] to me.' It still mean uncle but."

EJ, 23 years, Aboriginal male, Bilyana.

The corrective mechanism was also tested by another indirect method. I selected a tape of a YS text in "imperfect" Dyirbal, which involved marked departures from the traditional grammatical norm, (eg NOM-ACC case system; English intrusion; allomorphic reduction). The TS was asked to help me transcribe the text by repeating YS speech, word-for-word. The result was striking. The TS could not repeat the YS Dyirbal without upgrading it to her own norms;

a ) ergative case marking was added, and correct noun class membership was assigned; eg

YS: bayi ganibarra budin baqun gujarra ^ NOM I dingo take GEN II baby

TS correction: bapgun ganibarra-gu budin baqun gujarra ERG II dingo -ERG

58

b ) YS allomorphic reduction was corrected to the traditional allomorph: eg

YS: naggay - qga 4-

TS: " - ja rock - LOC

c) English and pidgin forms were replaced by Dyirbal items: eg YS: 'e bin bungin

T S : [ waybala bungin t white man lie down

The white man lay down.

The noticeable occurrence of the corrective mechanism at Jambun runs counter to Dorian's (1981:54) hypothesis that "relax­ ation of internal grammatical monitoring is typical of language communities approaching extinction". See 10.3-4 for further discussion of Dorian's hypothesis.

Summarizing, the corrective mechanism appears to limit vertical communication between less-fluent YS and TS. The less Dyirbal a speaker has, the less likely he is to use it with TS

(because of constant correction); rather he reserves it for the in-group. In contrast to less-fluent YS, the more-proficient YS often use Dyirbal to TS. They appear to be less subject to the corrective mechanism. A possible reason for this is that their speech is closer to traditional norms.