R.M.W. Dixon is an anthropological linguist at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia. He has authored many books on linguistic theory, and grammars based on immersion fieldwork in the Amazonian jungle, in the rainforest of north-east Australia, and in Fiji.

Preface; 1. Australian languages; 2. Dyirbal: the language and its speakers; 3. word classes; 4. Syntax; 5. Deep syntax; 6. Morphology; 7. Phonology; 8. Semantics; 9. Lexicon; 10. Prehistory; Appendices.

Originally published in 1972, this study is dedicated to the surviving speakers of the Dyirbal, Giramay and Mamu dialects.