The Governor’s Wombat

Early history of an Australian marsupial:

http://www.eupjournals.com/doi/abs/10.3366/anh.2007.34.2.207

Louis J. Pigott and Leslie Jessop

Citation Information. Volume 34, Page 207-218 DOI 10.3366/anh.2007.34.2.207, e-ISSN 0260-9541, Available Online October 2007.

Abstract

This paper gives an account of the European discovery of an Australian marsupial, the common wombat Vombatus ursinus, with particular reference to the first complete wombat specimen to reach Europe, which survives in The Hancock Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne. The involvement of colonial officials, navigators, explorers, naturalists and artists is discussed.

Ethnopharmacology

http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au:9080/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:134?query=aboriginal

 

An ethnopharmacological study of medicinal plants of the Kamilaroi and Muruwari aboriginal communitites in northern New South Wales, by Qian Liu.

Innamincka Talk: book notice

Here is a book notice in eLanguage for Gavan Breen’s Yandruwandha grammar and texts set.

http://elanguage.net/blogs/booknotices/?p=85

Jeremy Steele: The Sydney language

Jeremy Steele’s MA Thesis on Dharug is available through Macquarie’s epository.

http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/738

Australianist meeting in Manchester

 

Australianist Workshop, Preliminary Programme
University of Manchester, Fr/Sa, 12-13 December
Fr 12 Dec
14.00-14.45 Clair Hill MPI Nijmegen Discourse functions of ignoratives in Umpila and Kuuku
Ya’u
14.45-15.30 Robert Mailhammer Univ. Eichstätt The role of pragmatics in the interpretation of aspectual
verb forms in Amurdak
16.00-16.45 Stephan Spronck MPI Nijmegen The semantic basis of verb classification in Ngarinyin – a
first exploration
16.45-17.30 Jean-Christophe
Verstraete
Univ. Leuven The genetic status of Umpithamu
17.30-18.15 Anthony Grant Edge Hill Univ. The Lower Burdekin languages: a reappraisal
Dinner in the “Curry Mile”
Sat 13 Dec
9.30-10.15 Claire Bowern Yale Univ. Hunter-Gatherer Language Change: An overview
10.15-11.00 Natalie Weber Yale Univ. Lexical and morphological reconstruction of Marrngu
11.30-12.15 Felicity Meakins Univ. Manchester Taking a stance on coverbs: Positional verb constructions
in Gurindji Kriol
12.15-13.00 Dorothea Hoffmann Univ. Manchester Motion and travel in Jaminjung and Kriol (to be confirmed)
Lunch
14.30-15.15 Candide Simard Univ. Manchester Prosodic units in Jaminjung
15.15-16.00 Eva Schultze-Berndt Univ. Manchester Form and Function of split noun phrases in Jaminjung
16.30-17.15 Bill McGregor Univ. Arhus The genitive in Worrorran languages
17.15-18.00 Stefanie Fauconnier Univ. Leuven Constructional effects of inanimate Agents in Australian
languages
Other Participants:
Justin Spence, Berkeley
Louise Ashmore, SOAS, London

 

[Crossposted at X]

Discourse and grammar in Australian languages

Edited by Ilana Mushin and Brett Baker. Benjamins.

Discourse and Grammar in Australian Languages is the first major survey to address the issue of the effects of information packaging on Australian languages, widely known for nonconfigurationality. The papers are based on individual fieldwork and describe a wide range of Australian languages of different types, ranging from the polysynthetic languages of Arnhem Land and the Kimberley to the classical types represented by Walpiri. Topics covered include the pragmatics of information exchange, the interaction of noun class marking with polarity and referentiality, the effects of specificity on argument indexing, the discourse uses of the ergative case, the contribution of pronouns to NP reference, the interaction of tense and aspect clitics with information structure, clause-initial position, and discourse and grammar in Australian languages. The volume will appeal to scholars interested in discourse, typology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Geminates and Light Syllables

Light Syllables and Geminates in Moraic Theory. Mentions Warlpiri.

Desert Knowledge

“A way of working with Warlpiri people” [PDF]; plenty more interesting papers on http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/

Australex 2008

This year’s Australex program can be found here.