I would like to invite all of you to attend our upcoming colloquium, for which Joe Blythe of Macquarie University will be our presenter. Here is the zoom link and the flyer.
Topic: LCRC Colloquia or Roundtables
Time: Monday, Feb 28 at 3:30 (Brisband, Australia time)
Your Local Time: 2022-02-28T05:30:00Z
Zoom: https://jcu.zoom.us/j/81141786630?pwd=ejhGREdzWk5ZckFQKzJab085M3l5dz09
Password: 011293
James Cook University Language & Culture Research Centre 2022 Colloquia Series
Are you my mother!?
Learning to discern who’s who within a universal kinship system
This presentation examines the developmental consolidation of an entire system of kinship relations in the Indigenous Murrinhpatha language of Australia—genetically close kin as well as more distant classificatory relationships. It is argued that adult-like competence develops slowly into the late teens, which is evidenced through psycholinguistic tasks targeting both the kinship lexicon and the sibling-inflected grammar. In this respect, the social learning required for mastery of kinship in Murrinhpatha is likely similar to the acquisition of literacy, in which life-long learning enables certain individuals to develop genuine expertise.
Joe Blythe (Macquarie University)
Joe Blythe’s research focuses on Indigenous Australian languages Murrinhpatha, Gija, and Jaru.
He is the Associate Secretary for the Australian Linguistic Society.