Acquisition or shift?

This chapter examines the spatial description system employed by Gurindji children in Kalkaringi (Northern Territory, Australia) to describe ternary relations in small-scale space. While Gurindji is the traditional language of Kalkaringi, a new variety, Gurindji Kriol, has developed as a result of language contact, and is now the first language of young adults and children. Speakers of Gurindji use cardinal directions in descriptions of both small-scale and large-scale space, whereas cardinal terms are almost never used to describe small-scale in naturally-occurring Gurindji Kriol speech. We show that the strategies preferred by children differ from those used by their parents, who produce predominantly cardinal descriptions. Instead, Gurindji Kriol-speaking children show variable use between cardinals and landmark-based strategies.