THE SPEECH OF THE T ASM AN IAN 

 ABORIGINES. 



By Hermann B. Ritz, M.A. 



(Read 14th June, 1909.) 



I.— INTRODUCTORY REA/LARKS. 



The reconstruction of the speech of the extmct Tas- 

 manian Aborigines seems at first ahiiost impossible, 

 ov/ing- to the paucity and dubiousness of the records we 

 possess ; but after careful research we find that, though 

 the records are scanty, yet they are fairly ample, con- 

 sidering the comparatively small number of the con- 

 stituent parts of the language, and a reasonable degree 

 •of probability can be attained by a patient study of the 

 material available. 



As we proceed in our investigation, Ave find that the 

 subject opens up most interesting avenues of thought, 

 and promises to lead to important results in the domains 

 of philology, ethnology, and anthropology. To exhaust 

 it would recjuire the labour of years ; but it is possible 

 and expedient to formulate 'a working theory and sub- 

 mit it to competent criticism, and this is what I now 

 venture to do. 



Before entering upon this working theory, it will be 

 advisable to define the scope of the present investiga- 

 tion. 



As a trained philologist, I am well aware of the 

 classification of the languages of mankind, and have a 

 working knowledge of a certain number of them ; but 

 I find the characteristics of the Tasmanian speech so 

 primitive and unstable, that I cannot see my way to enrol 

 it in any of the classes given by the text-books. 



It might be called a root-isolating language, akin to 

 the Chinese, but for the fact that its roots are liable to 

 variation, within certain limits, not merely in the speech 

 of different tril)es or families, but even in the usage of 



