Gavan Breen

Gavan Breen, born 22 January 1935,^[1] is an Australian linguist, specializing in the description of Australian Aboriginal languages. He has studied and recorded 49 such languages. ^[2]

Career

Breen was born at St Arnaud in the Wimmera district of the state of Victoria and received his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Ballarat (1948-1952)where he matriculated as Dux in his final year.^[3] He went on to study at Newman College, graduating as a metallurgist from Melbourne University. He was thinking of somewhere to take a holiday break and a job when, in 1967, he chanced to listen to a public lecture at his university, in which the need to record dying languages was mentioned. The work was well paid, and Breen took a grant to do a master's degree at Monash University, working initially with the last speakers of the Warluwarra language, and later with the Woorabinda people,^[4] and decided that this was where his vocation lay.^[2][1] He was appointed a research fellow at Monash, and there worked on the Bidjara and Gungabula languages and Pitta Pitta with Barry Blake.^[5]

Breen's work, which has extended over many distinct language groups in western and central Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia, was mostly done under the auspices of He is presently a member of the AIATSIS. Though Breen officially retired in 2001,^[1] he continues to work at the Institute of Aboriginal Development in Alice Springs.^[2] He has also offered his expertise in legal cases, helping native peoples establish their claims to native title.^[1] On 26 January 2016, Breen was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.^[1]

Tasaku Tsunoda has suggested that, having worked with literally dozens of individuals who were the last speakers of a variety of Australian languages, Breen can be said to be the last speaker of the languages he has described, since he retains a working knowledge, if partial, of an otherwise extinct language.^[6]

Salvaged languages

Languages Breen has helped to salvage include:

• Warluwarra
• Bidjara.^[7]
• Gungabula. ^[7]
• The Antekerrepenhe dialect of Upper Arrernte.^[8]
• The Mayabic languages and dialects.^[9]
• The Yalarnnga language.^[10]
• The Innamincka dialect of Yandruwandha.^{[11] [12]}

Notes and references

Notes

1. Volling 2016.
2. Sleath 2014.
3. Nolan 2016.
4. BIOITE 2016.
5. O'Donnell 1973, p. 50.
6. Tsunoda 2005, p. 41.
7. Breen 1973.
8. Breen 2016, p. 139.
9. Breen 1981.
10. Breen 2007.
11. Breen (a) 2015.
12. Breen (b) 2015.

References

• Breen, Gavan (1973). Bidyara and Gungabula : grammar and vocabulary. Monash University.
• Breen, Gavan (1981). The Mayi Languages of the Queensland Gulf Country. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. ISBN 978-0-858-83567-2.
• Breen, Gavan (1990). Salvage Studies of Western Queensland Aboriginal Languages. Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies. ISBN 978-0-858-83401-9.
• Breen, Gavan; Blake, Barry J. (2007). The grammar of Yalarnnga: a language of western Queensland. Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies. ISBN 978-3-110-18429-7.
• Breen (a), Gavan (2015) [2004]. Innamincka Talk: A grammar of the Innamincka dialect of Yandruwandha. Australian National University. ISBN 978-1-921-93420-9.
• Breen (b), Gavan (2015) [2004]. Innamincka Words: Yandruwandha dictionary and stories. Australian National University. ISBN 978-1-921-93422-3.

• Breen, Gavan (2016). "W E Roth and the Study of Aboriginal Languages in Queensland". In McDougall, Russell; Davidson, Iain. The Roth Family, Anthropology, and Colonial Administration. Routledge. pp. 133–155. ISBN 978-1-315-41728-8.
• "Honour for Gavan Breen". Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. 2016.
• Nolan, Paul (2016). "Old Boy's Australia Day honour". St Patrick's College, Ballarat.
• O'Donnell, Mietta (2 April 1973). "Bid to save native languages from extinction" (PDF). Monash Reporter.
• Sleath, Emma (24 April 2014). "Veteran linguist's work preserved". ABC News.
• Volling, Tom (26 January 2016). "Alice man's crusade to save indigenous languages honoured with OAM". Northern Territory News.
• Tsunoda, Tasaku (2005). Endangerment and Language Revitalization: An Introduction. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-110-18429-7.