05-12-2024, 09:55 PM
Palawa kani is a language reconstructed from what we know of the Tasmanian Aboriginal languages. Although the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aboriginal died in the nineteenth century, many descendants of the Tasmanian Aboriginal tribes live in Tasmania to this day, and the state has its own Aboriginal corporation tasked with maintaining indigenous culture including language.
Historically, between five and sixteen different languages were spoken in pre-European Tasmania; however, all of them are severely underattested. They are believed to be closely related to one another, and contact between the different tribes was such that various lingua francas developed. When Fanny Cochrane Smith died in 1905, so did the Flinders Island lingua franca; she was the last documented native speaker of a Tasmanian Aboriginal language.
Palawa kani, due to this contact between Tasmanian Aboriginal language groups, could be considered a zonal auxillary language- it is likely that a modern speaker could go back in time and converse with a speaker of any given Tasmanian language without much difficulty. The number of users is estimated at 400 by the AITSIS. Uniquely for a language, even a conlang, copyright is claimed by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre based on their interpretation of UNDRIP. Only Tasmanian Aboriginal descendants are entitled to receive full learning resources, and permission must be sought from the TAC by non-Aboriginals seeking to use the language except for in the case of placenames, flora and fauna.
The TAC uses only lowercase letters when writing the language, including proper nouns. For example, the official dual name of Hobart is Hobart/nipaluna. Other indigenous languages that use unicase Latin script include Saanich of British Columbia, which uses only capital letters (the endonym for the language is SENĆOŦEN, or Sənčáθən in Americanist notation).
The exact external relationship of Tasmanian Aboriginal languages is unknown; however, Greenberg (1971) proposed them to be of an Indo-Pacific family which also included Papuan and Andamanese- but not other Aboriginal languages.
Interactive map of palawa kani placenames: https://tacinc.com.au/pk/GIS/index.html#...53/146.342
Audiobook samples: https://tacinc.com.au/programs/palawa-ka...age-books/
Historically, between five and sixteen different languages were spoken in pre-European Tasmania; however, all of them are severely underattested. They are believed to be closely related to one another, and contact between the different tribes was such that various lingua francas developed. When Fanny Cochrane Smith died in 1905, so did the Flinders Island lingua franca; she was the last documented native speaker of a Tasmanian Aboriginal language.
Palawa kani, due to this contact between Tasmanian Aboriginal language groups, could be considered a zonal auxillary language- it is likely that a modern speaker could go back in time and converse with a speaker of any given Tasmanian language without much difficulty. The number of users is estimated at 400 by the AITSIS. Uniquely for a language, even a conlang, copyright is claimed by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre based on their interpretation of UNDRIP. Only Tasmanian Aboriginal descendants are entitled to receive full learning resources, and permission must be sought from the TAC by non-Aboriginals seeking to use the language except for in the case of placenames, flora and fauna.
The TAC uses only lowercase letters when writing the language, including proper nouns. For example, the official dual name of Hobart is Hobart/nipaluna. Other indigenous languages that use unicase Latin script include Saanich of British Columbia, which uses only capital letters (the endonym for the language is SENĆOŦEN, or Sənčáθən in Americanist notation).
The exact external relationship of Tasmanian Aboriginal languages is unknown; however, Greenberg (1971) proposed them to be of an Indo-Pacific family which also included Papuan and Andamanese- but not other Aboriginal languages.
Interactive map of palawa kani placenames: https://tacinc.com.au/pk/GIS/index.html#...53/146.342
Audiobook samples: https://tacinc.com.au/programs/palawa-ka...age-books/
Avatar: The obverse of a coin of Kanishka I depicting the Buddha, with the Greco-Bactrian legend ΒΟΔΔΟ.
Follow my attempt at reviving Pictish.
Romanes-lekhipen- the Romani alphabet.
Follow my attempt at reviving Pictish.
Romanes-lekhipen- the Romani alphabet.