Gradualness and abruptness in linguistic split

Abstract

Abstract While the Nyulnyulan languages have long been identified as a clear family, two languages from the geographic center of the family have been difficult to classify. In this chapter, I use previously unutilized archival finds to discuss a conundrum long noted in linguistics, often characterized as the competition of gradualist diffusionist models versus abrupt splits that are typically represented on linguistic trees. The Nyulnyulan family has been claimed to form an old dialect continuum down the Dampier Peninsula, with overlapping changes that make it difficult to discern one “language” from another or to posit clear subgroups. I dispute this claim and argue that both linguistically and culturally, there are distinct language units. I use a combination of fieldwork data, historical reconstruction, and archival resources to show how changes have locally diffused, but subsequent population shifts and local realignments have created sharp junctures between varieties.