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Australian Indigenous languages are widely cited as depending overwhelmingly on abstract cardinal terms for spatial reference. However, considerable under-recognized diversity exists, with systems invoking aspects of local topography or egocentric projections. The first step toward an empirically grounded understanding of the wider implications of Australian spatial reference systems is to establish what components of spatial systems actually occur in what combinations across the continent. This article examines the spatial systems of five Australian languages to test hypotheses about the role of the environment in shaping linguistic representations of space, revealing under-recognized aspects of Australian systems, including the use of egocentric ("relative") reference frame but only on the sagittal axis; a nearside-farside system; and multiple systems invoking diverse salient environmental features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a survey of geocentric directional systems across Australia using published and unpublished material as well as fieldwork data, providing the first systematic overview of such systems in Australia. The 116 sampled varieties, spoken across diverse landscapes, exhibit variation within and across languages. Many make use of more than one directional system. This paper sets out to create a systematic typological overview of geocentric directionals in Australia taking into account cultural and topographic salience, revisiting existing classifications of directional systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I provide a description of the role of body-part terms in expressions of emotion and other semantic extensions in MalakMalak, a non-Pama-Nyungan language of the Daly River area. Body-based expressions denote events, emotions, personality traits, significant places and people and are used to refer to times and number. Particularly central in the language are men 'stomach', pundu 'head' and tjewurr 'ear' associated respectively with basic emotions, states of mind and reason. The figurative extensions of these body parts are discussed systematically, and compared with what is known for other languages of the Daly River region. The article also explores the grammatical make up of body-based emotional collocations, and in particular the role of noun incorporation. In MalakMalak, noun incorporation is a central part of forming predicates with body parts, but uncommon in any other semantic domain of the language and only lexemes denoting basic emotions may also incorporate closed-class adjectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[31] work on body-based tropes in Dalabon, a Gunwinyguan language of northern Australia, shows that in this polysynthetic language, body-based representations of emotions are woven into noun-incorporation constructions. Culture, body and language: Conceptualizations of internal body organs across cultures and languages, 131-168. Culture, body and language: Conceptualizations of internal body organs across cultures and languages, 267-317. Culture, body and language: Conceptualizations of internal body organs across cultures and languages, 213-243. [Extracted from the article]

Spatial Frames of Reference (FoR) have been discussed from different angles including cross-linguistic variety, detailed individual language descriptions, considering the impact of landscape and cognition, and regional overviews. Little attention, however, has been paid to their usage patterns. Consequently, this paper analyses a curious restriction on the use of different types of absolute terms. The analysis is based on a previous observation for Jaminjung that the use of absolute FoR is conditioned by whether or not the ground is overtly specified. The paper expands on this finding for two languages spoken in the same region, MalakMalak and the Roper variety of Kriol. It particularly focuses on the influence of morphosyntactic features and takes cognitive approaches as well as cultural salience into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi- and multilingualism has been shown to have positive effects on the attainment of third and additional languages. These effects, however, depend on the type of bi- and multilingualism and the status of the languages involved (Cenoz, 2003; Jessner, 2006). In this exploratory trend study, we revisit Cummins' Threshold Hypothesis (1979), claiming that bilingual children must reach certain levels of attainment in order to (a) avoid academic deficits and (b) allow bilingualism to have a positive effect on their cognitive development and academic attainment. To this end, we examine the attainment of English as an academic language of 16-years-old school children from Hamburg (n=52). Our findings support the existence of thresholds for literacy attainment. We argue that language external factors may override positive effects of bilingualism. In addition, these factors may compensate negative effects attributable to low literacy attainment in German and the heritage languages. We also show that low attainment levels in migrant children's heritage languages preempt high literacy attainment in additional languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]