Video: Meet Rachel Nordlinger

Indigenous Languages, IYIL, Rachel Nordlinger, Shape

Professor Rachel Nordlinger is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, the Director of the Research Unit for Indigenous Language at the University of Melbourne, and one of the country’s foremost experts on Australian Indigenous languages. Her lecture on their “genius” set the tone for the celebration of the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019 in Australia.

Rachel’s research centres around the description and documentation of Australia’s Indigenous languages, and their implications for theories of language structure. Over the last 26 years she has undertaken fieldwork with the Bilinarra, Wambaya, Gudanji, Murrinhpatha and Marri Ngarr communities to record, document and preserve their traditional languages. She also works with Indigenous communities across Australia to support their efforts in maintaining and preserving their linguistic and cultural heritage. Rachel is the author of numerous academic articles, five books, co-editor (with Harold Koch) of ‘The Languages and Linguistics of Australia’, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.