Ida Toby (1899–1976), also known as "Queen", was an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n linguist who collaborated on the documentation of the Warluwarra and Wangka-Yutjurru languages.

Biography

Toby was born in 1899 at either Walgra or Carandotta station in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. She was of Warluwarra and Wangka-Yutjurru (of Wangkamana group) descent. Between 1967 and 1975 she worked extensively with

Gavan Breen Gavan Breen (22 January 1935 – 5 October 2023) , also known as J. G. Breen, was an Australian linguist, specialising in the description of Australian Aboriginal languages. He studied and recorded 49 such languages. Early life and education Bre ...

to help document the Warluwarra and Wangka-Yutjurru languages. She is said to have had an acting ability which allowed her to make up and act out imaginary conversations in those languages. In honour of this work, she is listed in the

Australian Women's Register The Australian Women's Register (AWR) is a searchable online database which aims to cover Australian women and Australian women's organisations. It is maintained by the National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) and the University of Melbou ...

. In 2013 a pictorial dictionary based on her work with Breen on Warluwarra was published by Desert Channels Queensland in partnership with The Georgina Diamantina & Cooper Aboriginal Group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toby, Ida Australian women linguists Linguists from Australia 1899 births 1976 deaths Linguists of Australian Aboriginal languages