Dixon, R.M.W. (2009) Language contact in the Cairns rainforest region. Anthropological Linguistics, 50 (3-4). pp. 223-248.

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Abstract

The Cairns rainforest region in northeast Queensland, Australia, constitutes a distinct geographical zone and also a small linguistic area. This article focuses on contact between the dialects of two languages—Yidiñ, which came into the area from the north, and Dyirbal, which entered from the south. It also pays attention to Ja:bugay, Yidiñ’s northerly relative, and Warrgamay, Dyirbal’s southerly neighbor. There is discussion of how the languages have influenced each other in terms of demonstratives and related items, tense system, pronoun system, initial rhotic, and contrastive vowel length. In each instance, the likely direction of diffusion is examined.

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