Eastern Tasmanian languages
Appearance
Eastern Tasmanian | |
---|---|
Oyster Bay – Bruny | |
Geographic distribution | Eastern coast of Tasmania and interior |
Ethnicity | Oyster Bay, Big River, and Bruny tribes of Tasmanians |
Linguistic classification | Possibly one of the world's primary language families (see Tasmanian languages) |
Subdivisions |
|
Language codes | |
Glottolog | None oyst1235 (Oyster Bay) sout1293 (Bruny/Southeast) |
Tasmanian language families per Bowern (2012).
Oyster Bay
Southeast Tasmanian |
Eastern Tasmanian is an aboriginal language family of Tasmania in the reconstruction of Claire Bowern.[1]
Languages
Bayesian phylogenetic analysis suggests that four (at p < 0.20) to five (at p < 0.15) Eastern Tasmanian languages are recorded in the 26 unmixed Tasmanian word lists (out of 35 lists known). These cannot be shown to be related to other Tasmanian languages based on existing evidence. The languages are:[2]
- Oyster Bay (Central–Eastern Tasmanian) (2)
- Oyster Bay (Oyster Bay and Big River tribes)
- Little Swanport
- Bruny (Southeastern Tasmanian) (2–3, Bruny tribe)
Two of the lists reported to be from Oyster Bay contain substantial Northeastern admixture (see Northeastern Tasmanian languages), which Bowern believes to be responsible for several classifications linking the languages of the east coast. However, once that admixture is accounted for, the apparent links disappear.[1]