Aboriginal Australian
- noun
- /ˌæbəˈrɪdʒənəl ɔˈstreɪljən/
- The Aboriginal Australians have a rich cultural heritage that dates back thousands of years.
Examples
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Many traditional stories from Aboriginal Australians reflect their deep connection to the land.
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So these are populations like the Papuans, Aboriginal Australians have admixture from the Denisovan population.
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Languages of the Aboriginal Australians are among the oldest still spoken today.
Synonyms
A person from the original people of a place, not later settlers
A person from the first people of Australia who lived there before Europeans arrived
A member of the first people who lived in a region
A person whose family lived in Australia before Europeans arrived
A language spoken by the first people of a place
A language spoken by Australia's Aboriginal people, not English
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'Indigenous people of Australia' is directly compositional from 'aboriginal' (indigenous, earliest local) + 'Australian' (a person from Australia). This adjective + nationality/person pattern is common across languages and follows regular English composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would reliably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Aboriginal Australian uses Aboriginal, a word that suggests 'from the beginning', and Australian, the land of Australia. It creates a clear image of the people who lived in Australia before European settlers, so the phrase means the Indigenous peoples and their languages.