Rate My Professor Margaret Sharpe

Margaret Sharpe is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Linguistics at the University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. She holds a BSc with Honours from the University of Sydney and a PhD from the University of Queensland. Over a career spanning more than 45 years, Sharpe has worked as a lecturer at Armidale College of Advanced Education, Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education in Lismore, and the Department of Aboriginal and Multicultural Studies at the University of New England. Her research centers on language diversity and documentation through partnerships with Indigenous communities in Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Pacific, South Asia, and Africa. She develops alphabets, writing systems, grammars, dictionaries, pedagogical materials, and cultural resources to support language maintenance and revitalization, with particular emphasis on Australian Aboriginal languages including the Yugambeh-Bundjalung dialect chain and Alawa.

Sharpe has presented seminars at the University of New England, including 'The Dark Constellations of the Aborigines' in 2016, 'Intonation and Stress Patterns of Alawa and Roper Kriol' in 2015, and others on topics such as Yanyuwa songs. Key publications include 'Bundjalung Settlement and Migration' (1985), 'Dictionary of Yugambeh Including Neighbouring Dialects' (1998, Pacific Linguistics), 'Grammar and Texts of the Yugambeh-Bundjalung Dialect Chain in Eastern Australia' (2005, LINCOM Europa), 'Alawa Nanggaya Nindanya Yalanu rugalarra: Alawa-Kriol-English Dictionary', and 'Gurgun Mibinyah: Yugambeh, Ngarahngwal, Ngahnduwal' (2021). Earlier works encompass 'A Description of the Yugumbir Dialect of Bandjalang' and contributions to the Alawa Song Buk (1991). She has collaborated with the Yugambeh Museum Language Advisory Committee and provided language lessons to assist First Nations people in reclaiming their linguistic heritage. In August 2023, Sharpe relocated from Armidale to Nerang, Queensland, to continue her language projects. Her documentation efforts have influenced studies on Indigenous traditions, coastal change, and pidgins and creoles.