For linguist Ghil‘ad Zuckermann, languages are much more than a means of communication – they are a passion.
Associate Professor Zuckermann – who is based at UQ’s School of English, Media Studies and Art History but will soon move to the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies – was instrumental in organising Australia’s inaugural conference on Afro-Asiatic languages, held over three days in September.
Coinciding with the Brisbane Writers Festival, the first Australian Workshop on Afro-Asiatic Linguistics (AWAAL) was a celebration of scholarship and multiculturalism, bringing together outstanding scholars and promising graduates from 18 countries, and featuring singers and dancers from all over the world.
“Despite having hundreds of thousands of Australians of Afro-Asiatic heritage – and although there are hundreds of millions of Afro-Asiatic speakers all over the globe – the Lucky Country has not had a tradition of research activities on these languages and societies,” Dr Zuckermann said.
“So I decided to establish the Australian Afro-Asiatic Association and to organise the first AWAAL with the hope that it becomes a tradition.”
Formerly known as Hamito-Semitic, the Afro-Asiatic family comprises languages spoken in northern Africa and southwest Asia, including the Semitic, Chadic, Cushitic, Berber, Omotic, and ancient Egyptian languages.
According to 2006 statistics, in Australia there are 243,662 speakers of Arabic, 36,517 Maltese speakers, 23,526 Assyrian speakers, 7559 Israeli speakers, 6647 Somali speakers, 2852 Amharic speakers, 1655 Tigrinya speakers and 997 speakers of Oromo.
In one debate panel, Dr Zuckermann, who was born in Israel, explored how lessons from the Middle East were applicable to the revival, maintenance and empowerment of Aboriginal languages.
“Everything is possible and attempts to revive no-longer-spoken tongues should be supported and championed,” Dr Zuckermann said.
“I hear again and again 'Native Title' but where is the 'native tongue title'? Is land more important than langue and (cultural) lens?”
“That said, we should be realistic: any revival of a 'sleeping beauty' – or 'walking dead' – is unlikely without cross-fertilisation from the revivalists’ mother tongue(s).”
One of AWAAL presenters, Professor Fawwaz Al-Abed Al-Haq, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Al al-Bayt University, Jordan, described AWAAL as an “unprecedented milestone conference”.
“I left my heart in Brisbane,” Professor Al-Abed Al-Haq said upon returning to Jordan.
UQ PhD candidate Abdel El-Hankari, who is researching Berber linguistics, said the event was praised by the participants as “highly successful”.
“Many prominent scholars asked if such an event could be held on a regular basis. Some professors who were visiting Australia for the first time had an extremely positive impression about UQ, the city and its people,” Mr El-Hankari said.
Media: Associate Professor Ghil‘ad Zuckermann (07 3365 1445, 0423 901 808, gz@uq.edu.au) or Penny Robinson at UQ Communications (07 3365 9723, penny.robinson@uq.edu.au)
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