Most of Australia’s First Nations languages don’t have gendered pronouns. Here’s why

By Felicity Meakins, Professor of Linguistics, The University of Queensland
Gari Tudor-Smith, Linguist, The University of Melbourne
Paul Williams, Linguist, The University of Queensland

If you visit Broome in Western Australia, you might be lucky enough to see Mary G perform. Mary G is a popular Gija comedian. On her website, English is used to describe Mary G as she and Mary G’s alter ego, Mark Bin Bakar, as he. But if you listen to Broome locals speaking Kriol, Mary G is simply referred to by the gender-neutral Kriol pronoun im.

Gendered pronouns have become a contested part of language since we became more aware of the…

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