Frs. Herman Nekes and Ernest Worms' Dictionary of Australian Languages, Part III of 'Australian Languages' (1953)

Abstract

Frs. Herman Nekes and Ernest Worms’ monumental Australian languages consists of five parts, of which three are dictionaries. These account for the bulk of the work, some 775 of 1067 pages, the remainder being about two-thirds grammar and one third texts. Part III, Dictionary native languages — English (a paradigmatic syntax) has some 630 typescript pages, amounting to over 9,000 headwords, in a range of Australian languages, with particular focus on those of the Dampier Land peninsular and nearby areas, most of which are represented by 1,500-2,000 entries. This is a singular document, both in conceptualisation, and because it presents some of the only extant information on various moribund and almost moribund languages (e.g. Jabirrjabirr, Nimanburru). The structure of the dictionary will be described both at the macro-level of organisation and contents (lexeme selection) and the micro-level of entry format; these will be linked to the authorsÂ’ notions of morphology, syntax, semantics, and etymology. The dictionary will be situated in relation to contemporary lexicography, and will be evaluated in terms of the quality of scholarship it represents, and its significance to modern concerns.