Lhotsky/Backhouse Tasmanian language
| (Lhotsky/Backhouse) | |
|---|---|
| Region | Unidentified location in northeastern Tasmania |
| Ethnicity | Unidentified tribe of Tasmanians |
| Extinct | 19th century |
Northeastern Tasmanian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
"Lhotsky/Backhouse" is a label for an unnamed aboriginal Tasmanian language identified in the reconstructions of Claire Bowern.[1] It was presumably spoken somewhere in the northeast of Tasmania, but the original location of the speakers was not recorded.
Vocabulary
The name of the language was not recoded; "Lhotsky/Backhouse" is a label based on the names of people associated with various word lists. Bowern (2012), based on Plomley (1976),[2] finds several word lists that attest to this previously unidentified language:
- the "eastern" list of Jorgen Jorgenson (first published in 1842,[3] and later republished in 1846 by Thomas Henry Braim[4][5]), 345 words
- a list of 68 words from the manuscripts of James Backhouse[6]
- George Washington Walker, 148 words combined[7][8][9]
- 105-word list of Alexander McGeary, published by John Lhotsky in 1839[10][1]
The sources above are all listed and discussed in detail by Plomley (1976).[2]
| gloss | Jorgenson |
|---|---|
| badger | publedina |
| bandicoot | padina |
| belly | miulean |
| blush | wadebeweanna |
| boat | luirapeuy |
| boy | plerenny |
| little boy | cuckana ludawinna |
| bread | towereela |
| breast | wagley |
| brother | pleragenana |
| cat | largana |
| chief | bungana |
| child | badany |
| chin | camena |
| come | tepera |
| covering | legunia |
| cow | cateena |
| crooked | powena |
| day | lanena |
| a day | magra |
| today | waldea-powt |
| fine day | lutregala |
| devil | comtena |
| drake | lamilbena |
| wild drake | malbena |
| dress | legunia |
| drink | lugana |
| dry | catrebuteany |
| ear | pelverata |
| earth | gunta |
| elbow | rowella |
| emu | rekuna |
| evacuate | legana |
| eye | lepena |
| fare | niparana |
| father | munlamana |
| feathers | munwaddia |
| fire | patarola |
| fist | trew |
| flying | pinega |
| fetus | leward |
| fog | muna |
| foot | langana |
| frog | pulbena |
| frost | ulta |
| girl | ludineny |
| little girl | cuckana ludineny |
| go on | tabelty! |
| good | naracoopa! |
| goose | robenganna |
| grass | rodidana |
| grass-tree | comthenana |
| ground | gunta |
| gull | rowenanna |
| gun | lila |
| hair | cethana |
References
- 1 2 Bowern, Claire (22 November 2012). "The riddle of Tasmanian languages". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1747): 4590–4595. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.1842. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 3479735. PMID 23015621.
- 1 2 Plomley, N. J. B. (1976). A Word-list of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Languages. Launceston: Government of Tasmania. ISBN 0724601988.
- 1 2 Jorgenson, Jorgen (1842). "Aboriginal languages of Tasmania". The Tasmanian journal of natural science, agriculture, statistics, &c. 1: 308–318.
- ↑ Braim, T. H. History of New South Wales, from its first settlement to the close of the year 1844. (London, 1846, vol. 2, pp. 257-266).
- ↑ Braim, T. H. Papers. Mitchell Library, ML.A614.
- ↑ Backhouse, James. Manuscript journal. Mitchell Library: vol. 1, B730.
- ↑ Walker, George Washington. Manuscript journals, nos. 2 and 4. Mitchell Library: nos. B709 and B711.
- ↑ Walker, George Washington. Letters addressed to friends, vols. 1 and 2. Mitchell Library: nos. B727 and B728.
- ↑ Walker, J. B. 1898. Notes on the aborigines of Tasmania, extracted from the manuscript journals of George Washington Walker, with an introduction. Pap. Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm., for 1897, pp. 145-175.
- ↑ Lhotsky, John. 1839. Some remarks on a short vocabulary of the natives of Van Diemen Land; and also of Menero Downs in Australia. J. Roy. Geog. Soc. London, 9, pp. 157-162.
External links
- James Backhouse and George Washington Walker papers, 1831-1841 (call numbers: B 706–B 732, C 393)