Tsunoda Tasaku (角田 太作, born 1946) is a Japanese linguist, specializing in Australian Aboriginal languages.
His choice of Melbourne for postgraduate work was partially influenced by the fact that the Monash campus was close to an athletic training camp run by the former world middle distance champion Herb Elliott.
[1] Beginning in 1972, he undertook fieldwork on Palm Island in Queensland for his master's thesis (1974),[2] where he undertook extensive interviews with a native informant, Alf Palmer(1891–1981),[3] who happened to be the last fluent speaker of Warrungu, an Aboriginal language originally spoken in the upper reaches of the Herbert River, west of Tully He later wrote up his research to produce the standard grammar of the language, published in 2012.
[5] Subsequently, Tsunoda pursued field work in the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia, where he mastered and wrote a grammar of Djaru.
He has returned on occasion to Palm Island as a guest of the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation in order to help children learn some Warrungu and assist in attempts to revive the language.