P.O.V
-
-
News
Murrinhpatha, a language like no other!
This is Stephen Bunduck, a Kardu Diminin man and generous participant in a series of visioning workshops in Wadeye, always in his big hat.
Here he describes the family and clan groups that make up the community, a complex overlay to our re-imagining of how the built environment might work.
He is speaking Murrinhpatha, a language described as ‘polysynthetic’ and with a ‘free word order’. We’re no linguists, and so we’re not going to begin to try and describe what this means. But we will point you to an article in the Scientific American journal that reveals how fascinating Murrinhpatha is, unique even within the context of Australian Aboriginal languages.
The community resisted the attempts at assimilation imposed by Catholic missionaries. In the article, the researcher asks an Elder, ‘how it was that despite the cruelty of the missions and the punishment by the nuns, her people still spoke Murrinhpatha. “We just used to whisper,” the woman replied.’
Murrinhpatha continues to thrive as a language and is widely spoken in community and given equal attention in school as English. Here’s a link to the journal article if you’d like to learn more; we promise it’s an interesting read!
Articles / Blog
06 Feb, 2025
Promotions and Expansion at TFA!
By Emma Brain
29 Jan, 2025
TFA Donates to SBH
By Emma Brain
23 Jan, 2025
Vale Richard Longley
By Emma Brain
21 Jan, 2025
Exciting news from the TFA grants team!
By Emma Brain
11 Dec, 2024
Kaya Birak + 2024 Impact Statement!
By Emma Brain
20 Nov, 2024
Mindful Summer Reading
By Emma Brain
30 Oct, 2024
WA Public Housing Lacks Basic Climate Control
By Emma Brain
21 Oct, 2024
Ask: A New First Nations Performance Supported by TFA
By Emma Brain
15 Oct, 2024
The Architecture of Care
By Emma Brain
05 Oct, 2024
TFA Hikes the Yonga Trail
By Emma Brain
05 Sep, 2024
Contracts and Procurement + Wellbeing
By Emma Brain
31 Jul, 2024
Win at the SA + WA Game Changer Awards!
By Emma Brain