Around the World

How New Indigenous Languages Are Changing Australia

The surprising emergence of these languages comes as the traditional ones spoken by Australia's indigenous people are rapidly dying out.

Before European colonization, as many as 300 languages were spoken on continental Australia, reflecting the cultural diversity among its original inhabitants. Today, only about 40 to 60 of these languages remain, with more than half of them no longer learned by any children.

Yet the dynamic nature of language is giving some indigenous groups and linguists something to be hopeful about: Younger indigenous generations are driving the rise of a new crop of languages — ones that fuse aspects of traditional languages with modern English.

Around the World

Don’t Call This 8-Year-Old India’s Greta Thunberg

Licypriya Kangujam is half Thunberg’s age, but she has in spunk what she lacks in height.

A crowd of men and women walked through the streets of Madrid behind two young girls as they held hands and spoke to each other animatedly. One of the girls was Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swede who has become the face of a new generation’s fight against climate change. The other one was Licypriya Kangujam.

On reaching their destination, Licypriya hurriedly rolled out a placard that read: “Dear Mr. Modi. Please pass the climate change law in the ongoing Parliament session. Save our future! Act now! Act now!” It was December 2019 and the group was on their way to the United Nations Climate Change Conference 25, where both girls addressed world leaders and urged immediate action against climate change.

Born in 2011, Licypriya is the “Greta of the Global South” to the media, but she tells OZY with a confident grin: “Really, I’m Licypriya of India.”