BIBFRAME Work

Title

Proto-Australian

Type

  • Text
  • Monograph

Contribution

Subject

Australian languages--History (LCSH)

Language

Illustrative Content

Classification

LCC: PL7001 .H37 2024 (Status: not used by assigner) (Status: upgraded prepub)

Content

Supplementary content

Summary

This book is the first full evaluation of the Proto-Australian hypothesis, which proposes that most Australian languages have a common ancestor: Proto-Australian [PA]. Using the standard methodologies of historical linguistics, the authors show that nearly all Australian languages descend from PA. Given that PA was a single language, it was spoken only in a small area of Australia. Its descendants have spread across the continent. Current theories of language spread do not offer clear motivations for large-scale spread in hunter-gatherer economies. This raises significant questions for analyses of Australian prehistory and archaeology specifically, and more widely for general theories of hunter-gatherer prehistory and language spread.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- List of Maps -- List of Tables -- Maps -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Methodology -- 3. Phonology -- 4. Nominals -- 5. Verbs -- 6. Syntax and the clitic complex -- 7. Membership of PA and subgroups -- Appendices -- Appendix 1: Statistical assessment of cognacy -- Appendix 2: Cognates -- Appendix 3: Nominal prefixation -- Appendix 4: Free pronouns and intransitive prefixes -- Appendix 5: Inflected verbal paradigms -- Appendix 6: PA reflexes -- Individual languages -- References -- Author Index -- Language Index -- Subject Index

Authorized Access Point

Harvey, Mark, 1958-. Proto-Australian

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11T20:15:05.272313+00:00
  • Agent: cbc
  • Status: c
  • Derived from: 23627324

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11
  • Cataloger id: Unknown
  • Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
  • Description language: eng
  • Description authentication: pcc

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