Little Swanport language explained

Little Swanport
Region:region of Little Swanport, eastern Tasmania
Ethnicity:Oyster Bay tribe of Tasmanians
Extinct:19th century
Familycolor:australian
Fam1:Eastern Tasmanian
Fam2:Oyster Bay
Iso3:none
Aiatsis:T15
Glotto:none
Glotto2:oyst1235
Glottoname2:(Oyster Bay + Little Swanport)
Glottorefname2:Oyster Bay-Big River-Little Swanport

Little Swanport Tasmanian is an aboriginal language of Tasmania in the reconstruction of Claire Bowern.[1] It was spoken near the modern town of Little Swanport on the east coast. Dixon & Crowley had noted that it appeared to be distinct, but were not sure if it constituted a separate language from other word lists collected near Oyster Bay.[2]

The Little Swanport language is attested in a list of 211 words collected by George Augustus Robinson.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Claire Bowern, September 2012, "The riddle of Tasmanian languages", Proc. R. Soc. B, 279, 4590 - 4595, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.1842
  2. Book: Crowley, T . Dixon, R. M. W. . 1981 . Tasmanian . Dixon, R. M. W. . Blake, B. J. . Handbook of Australian languages . Vol 2 . 394 - 421 . Canberra . Australian National University Press.
  3. Bowern (2012), supplement