Pyemmairre language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pyemmairre |
|
|---|---|
| Northeastern Tasmanian | |
| Region | North-eastern corner of Tasmania |
| Ethnicity | Northeastern and Ben Lomond tribes of Tasmanians |
| Extinct | 19th century |
| Language family |
Northeastern Tasmanian
|
| AIATSIS | T7 Ben Lomond, T9, T14 |
Northeastern Tasmanian, also known as Pyemmairre, was a language spoken by the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. It is an important part of their history and culture. This language was used in the northeastern part of the island.
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What is Pyemmairre?
Pyemmairre was one of the many languages spoken by the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. It is sometimes called Northeastern Tasmanian because of where it was used. Sadly, this language became extinct in the 19th century. This means that no one speaks it as their first language anymore.
How Do We Know About It?
A language expert named Claire Bowern has studied old records to learn about Pyemmairre. She has worked to piece together how it was spoken. Her work helps us understand more about the languages of the Aboriginal Tasmanians.
Old Word Lists
Most of what we know about Northeastern Tasmanian comes from old word lists. These lists were written down by people like Charles Robinson and George Augustus Robinson. They collected words from different areas.
- One list from Cape Portland had 366 words.
- Another from Ben Lomond had 195 words.
- A third list from Pipers River contained 126 words.
These lists are like clues that help experts understand the language.
The Port Dalrymple Words
Another group of words was collected by J.-P. Gaimard near Port Dalrymple. This area is close to the Tamar River. This list has about 125 words. However, some experts think these words might belong to a different language. They believe it was not exactly the same as Pyemmairre.
What About the Name Pyemmairre?
The name Pyemmairre might not have included all the people who lived in the highlands around Ben Lomond. For those people, a different name, Plangermaireener, was sometimes used. This shows that there might have been different groups or dialects within the larger language area.
