Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP170101313 [ 2017-06-30 - 2022-12-31 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: A/Prof Michael Westaway (Chief Investigator) ,  David Lambert (Chief Investigator) ,  Dr Erich Round (Chief Investigator) ,  A/Prof Craig Millar (Partner Investigator) ,  Prof Claire Bowern (Partner Investigator)
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Brief description The origins of Australia's non-Pama-Nyungan speaking people. This project aims to test the likelihood of multiple migrations into Australia before European arrival and determine if the phylogenetic relationships among non-Pama-Nyungan languages is mirrored by their speakers’ genomic phylogenetic relationships. The non-Pama-Nyungan First People of Australia speak an extraordinary number and diversity of Aboriginal languages, but the origins of these languages and the genomic diversity of the people who speak them are only now starting to be understood. There is a remarkable concordance between the Pama-Nyungan languages and the genomic diversity of their speakers. This research could show whether genomes change languages or vice versa, or whether they evolve together over time.

Funding Amount $533,000

Funding Scheme Discovery Projects

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