South Goulburn: A Stunning Island With 300 People Speaking 9 Different Languages

The small Australian island is widely known among linguists and is notable for the fact that the small population of this land area speaks immediately 9 different languages. But the most amazing thing is the preservation of such a linguistic diversity for a long time. And if in many other similar places the languages gradually mix, die out and among them there remain 1-2 dominant ones, then this did not happen with the island of South Goulburn. On the contrary, here everyone is proud of their linguistic affiliation, and speech in the language of another group is considered a violation of local rules and causes condemnation.

Goulburn Islands are located in the Arafura Sea off the northern coast of Australia. Among the islands of the archipelago, the largest are the two islands, called the Northern Goulburn and the Southern Goulburn. And if the first is unremarkable, then the second is simply unique from a linguistic point of view. About 300 people live on the island, but as many as 9 languages are spoken here! All of them are alive, and on each of them several dozen people speak.

Among the population of the island, the languages of the indigenous peoples of the region are widespread, such as Maung, Burarra, Ivadija, Nara Kara, Yolungu Matha, Kunbarlang and Njebbana. In addition to these seven languages, native speakers of English and Creole live on the island, the latter is a mixture of English and local dialects. There are several communities on the island, each of which speaks its own language, and the most common are maung and yolungu-matha. At the same time, many are able to understand the language of their neighbors, but they will never speak it, as this is considered unacceptable among the inhabitants of South Goulburn. This situation among linguists was called passive multilingualism and, in addition to the Australian island, is observed in several other places on the planet.

Since the population of the island is small, mixed marriages are quite common here. At the same time, a striking picture is observed: each of the spouses continues to speak their own language, but understands the other. If the islander belongs to the Maung community, then he will only speak Maung, no matter what family he lives in. As a rule, children born in such marriages choose their father as their mother tongue. Researchers associate this phenomenon with community rules prevalent on the island. Each linguistic group of people has its own land allotment, which is the property of the community, therefore linguistic uniqueness is so important for the islanders.