Academic literature on the topic 'Murringo'

In this paper I discuss transitivity in Murrinh-Patha, a non-Pama-Nyungan polysynthetic language from northern Australia. I survey the range of bivalent clauses in Murrinh-Patha and their morphosyntactic properties, and consider their analysis in terms of definitions of transitivity in the cross-linguistic literature. I argue that syntactic definitions of transitivity, while compatible with the Murrinh-Patha data, are empirically unrevealing since they provide little account for the varying morphosyntactic properties of different bivalent constructions. Instead, I show that the morphosyntax of bivalent constructions in Murrinh-Patha is sensitive to the semantic features of the participants, supporting a prototype approach to transitivity (such as those proposed by Hopper and Thompson 1980 and Næss 2007).

This paper discusses the relationship between the Aboriginal heritage clearance process and the environmental impact assessment process. The current Western Australian legislation and the Murrin Murrin nickel project and other Western Australian projects are used as a case study, although similar methods and issues are applicable to most states within Australia. The paper investigates areas where delays may occur and proposes a model which can be implemented to maximise the level of certainty for a project.

AbstractLateritic weathering profiles developed on serpentinized peridotites of Murrin Murrin (Western Australia) exhibit thick smectite zones (10–15 m). The smectites from plasma and fissures were characterized by XRD, chemical analyses (ICP-AES, SEM-EDX and TEM-EDX) and Mo¨ssbauer spectroscopy. These Fe-rich smectites, previously described as nontronites, are in fact more complex. Their layer charges originate from both the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets. Plasma and notably fissure smectites exhibit, from the bulk sample scale to the particle scale, large and continuous Al for (Fe+Cr) substitutions, covering a chemical gap previously described for dioctahedral smectites ranging between nontronite and beidellite end-members. Lastly, they exhibit an octahedral occupancy slightly above 2, due to a low (Mg+Ni) trioctahedral contribution. Thus, the smectites occurring in weathering profiles of ultrabasic rocks can have actual chemistries intermediate between four dioctahedral end-members (beidellite, nontronite, montmorillonite and previously rarely described ferric-montmorillonite) and a trioctahedral one ((Mg+Ni)-saponite).

The red fox occurs across a very broad range of habitats, and displays great behavioural flexibility under different environmental conditions. In Australia, mounting concern over the impacts of foxes on livestock and native fauna has highlighted a need for more information on fox ecology under Australian conditions as a fundamental step towards developing more strategic means of managing foxes. This study explores ranging behaviour, dispersal, use of dens, activity rhythms, population dynamics and diet in the absence of management in productive agricultural land in the central tablelands of New South Wales. The study was conducted from June 1994 to June 1997 on private property near Murringo, NSW Australia (34°15� S, 148°30� E). The site was primarily sheep and cattle grazing land and had a history of no fox management. Rainfall was considerably below average for much of the study. A total of 83 foxes were trapped over 3931 trapnights, of which 50 were fitted with radio-collars (23 adult and 6 juvenile females, 12 adult and 9 juvenile males) and 26 released with eartags only (all juveniles: 10 females, 16 males). Thirty-three foxes were radio-tracked using fixed towers between March 1995 and December 1996, with between 11 and 28 foxes tracked at any time. Mean home range size was 446.1 ha ± 69.8 se using 95% Minimum Convex Polygons (MCP), and 276.4 ha ± 36.3 se using 95% kernel utilisation distributions. Male home ranges defined by MCP were significantly larger than female ranges, but no significant difference was found using 95% kernels. Core ranges were estimated to be 133.4 ha ± 23.7 se using 50% MCP and 59.8 ha ± 6.1 se using 95% kernels, with no significant difference between sexes. No significant differences were found between range sizes of adults and juveniles or between years or seasons. While most home ranges were steady for the duration of the study, some foxes were observed to shift range location and 4 foxes displayed nomadic behaviour for at least some of the study. There was a high incidence of overlapping home ranges, most commonly between females or males and females but occasionally between males, but core areas were usually separate. Fully overlapping core areas were observed in 1995 but not in 1996. Juvenile foxes were significantly more likely to disperse than adults, and usually travelled further (juveniles 61.1 km 31.6 ± se; adults 5.9 km 1.1 ± se). Males and females were equally likely to disperse, and there was no significant difference in the distance travelled. The furthest distances were 285 km and 140 km, but mean distance of dispersal excluding these animals was 12.3 km ± 4.3 se (n = 13). Thorough surveys across a 16.4 km² area located 200 dens, with 68 of these active in 1995 and 96 active in 1996. Density of breeding foxes was estimated to be 0.55 and 0.52 adult foxes/km² in 1995 and 1996 respectively based on natal den counts. Density estimates based on active den counts, which include non-breeding foxes, were 0.91and 1.30 foxes/km² in 1995 and 1996 respectively. These estimates appear lower than other studies in similar habitats but this is likely due to using a half home range boundary strip around the surveyed area in the present study. Application of mark-recapture analysis found very high �recapture� rates of dens and gave a similar estimate of the total number of dens to that observed directly. Natal dens were regularly distributed across the study area, whereas active dens tended to be in clusters. There was a high turnover of which dens were used each year, but the total number of natal dens was similar across years (16 in 1995 and 17 in 1996). Natal dens were more likely to be used on repeat occasions than other dens, but not necessarily by the same vixen. Litter size based on sightings of emergent cubs was 2.8. Foxes were predominantly nocturnal, with a major peak in activity about an hour after sunset. A new method of analysing activity rhythm data using Fourier series to mathematically describe animal movements was developed, that allowed systematic identification of the cyclical components underlying overall movement patterns. General fox behaviour could be clearly described by a 24-hour and a 12-hour cyclical component when corrected for variation in daylength. The rising and setting of the sun appeared to be a major trigger underlying movement patterns. Seasonal and sex differences were observed in patterns of activity. The annual rate of increase of the fox population was found to vary around a mean of zero between June 1994 and June 1997. A major drop in fox numbers as estimated by spotlight counts occurred in the second half of 1995, but numbers recovered by the end of 1996. Kaplan-Meier analysis of radio-tagged foxes found annual adult survival was generally very high (0.56-0.96) with lowest survival between July and October. Causes of mortality were human-related outside the site and apparently of natural causes within the site. However foxes dying of natural causes outside the site were unlikely to be found. There was no overall movement of foxes into or out of the site. Immigration was detected following the drop in fox numbers in late 1995, but there was no evidence of immigration prior to this period although emigration occurred. A sensitivity analysis was conducted on the effects of a small change in life history parameters on finite rate of increase using published data as well as adult mortality data from the present study. The two most influential life-history parameters were adult and juvenile survival, while changes in fecundity and age at first reproduction had much less impact on finite rate of increase. In terms of management, in which fertility control is being considered as an alternative to lethal control, this implies that a small change in fecundity may cause less change in the rate of increase of foxes than lethal control. Foxes were culled in June 1997 on completion of the study. Estimated density using a Petersen estimate was 2.4-5.3 foxes/km² and index-manipulation-index was 1.4-3.2 foxes/km². The different methods used to cull foxes appeared to target different age groups within the population, and were generally biased in favour of younger foxes. Success at killing animals was low, leading to large standard errors in the population estimates. Stomachs of foxes shot in the Orange district were found to contain predominantly rabbit and carrion, with invertebrates present when abundant. These findings were not strictly representative of the diet of foxes in the study area, where rabbits were scarce. Foxes scavenged heavily on lamb carcasses within the study site. The quantity of fresh lamb carrion removed from a lambing paddock in winter 1996 was estimated to support 13-24 foxes, with available fresh lamb theoretically able to support 240-440 foxes. Density based on removal of fresh carcasses was estimated to be 0.83-1.5 foxes/km².

Les smectites sont les principaux minéraux nickélifères ( ̃0. 15 atome par ư maille) dans le gisement latéritique de Murrin Murrin (Ouest de l'Australie). Dans le but de localiser le nickel dans la structure des smectites et d'étendre les connaissances cristallochimiques des smectites formées en altération de roches ultrabasiques, nous en avons réalisé une étude détaillée. Les smectites de plasma (en remplacement des anciens grains d'olivine) sont ferrifères. Leur charge octaédrique est souvent prédominante. Ces smectites sont intermédiaires entre des nontronites et des montmorillonites Fe. Les smectites de fissure présentent une gamme de substitution continue (Fe-Al)VI et une charge tétraédrique et octaédrique, 4 pôles sont nécessaires pour les représenter : beidellite-Al, montmorillonite-Al, nontronite-Fe, montmorillonite-Fe. Dans les couches octaédriques les cations ne se distribuent pas de manière aléatoire et les atomes de nickel sont ségrégés en domaines de petite taille
Smectites are the main nickeliferous minerals ( ̃0. 15 atom by ư unit cell) from the lateritic deposit of Murrin Murrin (Western Australia). In order to locate nickel in the structure of the smectites and to improve the knowledge about the crystal chemistry of the smectites formed in eathering of ultrabasic rocks, we studied accurately their mineralogy and crystal chemistry. The "smectites of plasma", iron-rich, present an octahedral charge often predominant. They are intermediate between a nontronite and a montmorillonite Fe. The "smectites of crack" show a continuous range of Al for Fe octahedral substitutions,and, a tetrahedral and an octahedral charge. Four end-members are necessary to represent them : beidellite-Al, montmorillonite-Al, nontronite-Fe, montmorillonite-Fe. In the octahedral sheets, the distribution of the cations is not random and the atoms of nickel are segregated in small trioctahedral clusters

Doctor of Philosophy
Successful communication hinges on keeping track of who and what we are talking about. For this reason, person reference sits at the heart of the social sciences. Referring to persons is an interactional process where information is transferred from current speakers to the recipients of their talk. This dissertation concerns itself with the work that is achieved through this transfer of information. The interactional approach adopted is one that combines the “micro” of conversation analysis with the “macro” of genealogically grounded anthropological linguistics. Murriny Patha, a non-Pama-Nyungan language spoken in the north of Australia, is a highly complex polysynthetic language with kinship categories that are grammaticalized as verbal inflections. For referring to persons, as well as names, nicknames, kinterms, minimal descriptions and free pronouns, Murriny Patha speakers make extensive use of pronominal reference markers embedded within polysynthetic verbs. Murriny Patha does not have a formal “mother-in-law” register. There are however numerous taboos on naming kin in avoidance relationships, and on naming and their namesakes. Similarly, there are also taboos on naming the deceased and on naming their namesakes. As a result, for every speaker there is a multitude of people whose names should be avoided. At any one time, speakers of the language have a range of referential options. Speakers’ decisions about which category of reference forms to choose (names, kinterms etc.) are governed by conversational preferences that shape “referential design”. Six preferences – a preference for associating the referent to the co-present conversationalists, a preference for avoiding personal names, a preference for using recognitionals, a preference for being succinct, and a pair of opposed preferences relating to referential specificity – guide speakers towards choosing a name on one occasion, a kinterm on the next occasion and verbal cross-reference on yet another occasion. Different classes of expressions better satisfy particular conversational preferences. There is a systematicity to the referential choices that speakers make. The interactional objectives of interlocutors are enacted through the regular placement of particular forms in particular sequential environments. These objectives are then revealed through the turn-by-turn unfolding of conversational interaction.

Can creative material translation reshape artistic appropriation to escape the cycle of mimicry and mockery linked to contemporary visual art practice? To explore creativity in material translation, my project has been divided into three case studies, each translating a different pattern, from a different context and material, into my chosen pattern-making language of glass murrine. In the first case study I translate a Moorish plasterwork pattern from the Alhambra, in Granada, Spain. This pattern has been copied before: a translation of fidelity printed by Owen Jones in his publication The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.1 Jones’ pattern and my patterns will be used to examine fidelity and infidelity in material translation. In the second case study I translate Paisley, a Kashmiri textile pattern appropriated and adapted by western manufacturers in the 19th-century. Paisley's history of adaptation will be examined in relation to my translation, to compare the two methods in the context of a single decorative idiom. In the third case study, I translate a stamp- printed furnishing textile pattern designed by Bernard Adeney in the 1930s. This translation will be an isolated interaction between two makers, a similar position to the critique of contemporary visual appropriation, allowing for a comparison between infidelity and appropriation. Murrine has been chosen as my material language because of its ability to create patterns with colour, depth and unlimited variation. The murrine technique involves the heating up and stretching of canes or sheets of coloured glass, arranged in designs that become very small when elongated. These stretched lengths are then cut in cross-section to form mosaic tiles. Developed by the Greeks and Egyptians, the murrine technique has been under constant development for the last 2000 years. I have further refined the technique, incorporating new methods such as waterjet cutting. I have made final artworks from each set of murrine in the format of flat glass panels, each exploring its pattern in a unique way. An examination of each artwork, its process of translation – including drawings, computer models, photomontage and other designing methods – and its material and contextual change will forge the link between making and writing in this project. My original contribution to knowledge is the exploration of a practical act of visual translation, analysing material change and creativity. The project serves as a model for material translation, questioning the contemporary act of appropriation in both art and culture. The project developed through my rejection of contemporary practices of appropriation, along with my passion for the spiritual nature of pattern and the glass technique of murrine. My theoretical framework is built around the linguistic concept of ‘creative translation’. Linguistic theorists such as Jorge Luis Borges ‘treated translation as a creative force in which specific translation strategies might serve a variety of cultural and social functions’.2 My project will adapt this linguistic concept to visual practice, investigating its relevance to material language.

This is an experimental study of a few glass objects from the Birka Excavations 1987-1989. A number of beads and waste from bead production have been studied. A group of these objects have also been examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive detectors (EDS) to comparatively analyze the materials composition. Experiments to recreate the technique in which they were made have been attempted with various results. The techniques found in the beads include the use of murrini, stringer, dotting, and blown-drawn. However the waste material available to this study only suggests that in Birka, beads where made with the winding technique and ornamented with stringer and possibly dotting. The glass used was heated in clay crucibles and some rods where premade.

This paper is an investigation into the crossroads of traditional and contemporary glass craft techniques. Through innovative methods in the workshop I have set out to bring glass into the public sphere using the potential for handcraft in architecture.

This chapter surveys the polysynthetic languages of northern Australia, across four families in three non-contiguous regions: Gunwinyguan (Arnhem Land), Tiwi (Bathurst and Melville Islands), and Southern and Western Daly (Daly River). All are non-Pama-Nyungan. It contextualizes the more detailed treatments of Dalabon (Ch. 43), Southern and Western Daly (Ch. 44), and the acquisition of Murrinh-patha (Ch. 26) by bringing out the typological similarities and differences in polysynthetic languages, with a particular focus on pathways of change between more and less polysynthetic structures. Australian polysynthetic languages exhibit little morphological fusion, and all are basically templatic. However, there are significant differences in noun and verb incorporation, applicatives and other valency-changing operations, and the degree of subordinating morphology, illustrated by comparing the closely related Dalabon and Bininj Gun-wok. Perhaps the biggest difference is the presence of a bipartite structure in the Southern Daly languages. The chapter closes by surveying the main trajectories by which morphological complexity increases or diminishes in the languages of northern Australia.