Northeastern Tasmanian languages facts for kids
The Northeastern Tasmanian language family includes several languages once spoken by Aboriginal people in the northeastern part of Tasmania. These languages are no longer spoken today, but scientists like Claire Bowern have worked to understand them by studying old word lists.
Quick facts for kids Northeastern Tasmanian |
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| Ethnicity: | Northeastern, Ben Lomond, and North Midland tribes of Tasmanians |
| Geographic distribution: |
NE Tasmania |
| Linguistic classification: | Possibly one of the world's primary language families (see Tasmanian languages) |
| Subdivisions: |
Pyemmairre (Northeastern language) †
Tyerrernotepanner (North Midland language) †
"Norman" †
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.png) Tasmanian language families per Bowern (2012). Northeastern Tasmanian
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Languages of Northeastern Tasmania
Scientists have studied many old word lists from Tasmania. These lists contain words from different Aboriginal languages. By carefully analyzing these lists, researchers have identified several languages that belong to the Northeastern Tasmanian family.
These languages were spoken by different Aboriginal tribes in the northeast of the island. While some lists clearly show one language, others suggest different dialects or even separate languages.
Known Languages
Based on the available word lists, up to four languages are thought to be part of the Northeastern Tasmanian family:
- Pyemmairre (a language from the northeastern region)
- Tyerrernotepanner (a language from the North Midland area, which might be a dialect of Pyemmairre or a separate language)
- Lhotsky/Blackhouse (identified from word lists collected by Lhotsky and Backhouse/Walker)
- "Norman" (identified from a list collected by Charles Sterling)
Connections to Other Languages
It is important to note that these Northeastern Tasmanian languages do not seem to be related to other Tasmanian languages. This is based on the evidence we have today.
Some word lists from the Oyster Bay area (in Eastern Tasmania) contain words that seem to mix with Northeastern Tasmanian words. This might be because people collecting the words traveled along the coast. They gathered words from different areas. When this mixing is carefully removed, the apparent links between Eastern and Northeastern languages disappear.
