Lower Arrernte

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Lower Arrernte is one of five aboriginal dialects (Western, Eastern, Central, Southern, and Lower Arrernte), all spoken by a few thousand people around the Alice Springs region in Central Australia. Lower Arrernte originates from the Finke river area, close to Alice Springs.

Lower Arrernte is a dying language. Only one person is known to speak it fluently enough to hold a conversation - Brownie Doolan, who doesn't know his exact age but should be in his early nineties. He learned the language from his mother and grandmother.

Gavan Breen, an Australian linguist, has been able to compile a dictionary of Lower Arrernte comprising about a thousand words by recording talks he had with Doolan.