While there have been several models for language split and spread in Australia, all this work faces problems. On the one hand, diffusionist models (such as Dixon’s Punctuated Equilibrium) require assumptions which would make Australia unique in world terms in both the manner of split and the facts of change. Furthermore, they do not fit very well with what we know about Australian prehistory. On the other hand, family tree models appear to do little better, at least in some parts of the country.
In this talk I discuss a third option for modeling language spread in the Pama-Nyungan family. I describe a framework for modeling change which draws on insights from sociolinguistics and dialect geography as well as the more traditional areas of historical linguistics. I illustrate the model with data from the Karnic subgroup of Pama-Nyungan.