The Tharumba Language of Southern NSW

The Tharumba Language of Southern NSW: Who was right P.G. King or C. Darwin?

Chris Illert and John Murphy

Copyright © Chris Illert and John Murphy, 2018. Permission is given to use fair quantities of this material so long as proper citation protocols are applied as is the custom.

ISBN 978-0-949357-39-7 Chris Illert is an independent researcher whose Ph.D was conferred by the Institute for Cultural Research, University of Western Sydney.

Contact email: illert@1earth.net Address: PO Box 595, Moss Vale. NSW 2577.

John Murphy is an independent History Researcher, Contact email: john.murphy@hotmail.com Address: PO Box 345, Tumbarumba, N.S.W. 2653.

____________________________________________

Fonts used: f* (italic), F* (non -italic), f* (non-italic) are Garamond or similar; they represent completely different things and should not be confused or interchanged. Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3, (italic) used in equations are Calibri italics or similar.

Special fonts, used for Aboriginal words, are Calibri italics or similar b, g, m, ŋ, ɲ, ᶁ , y, n, n , d, d, w, and vowels i, u, ʊ, except for a which is Arial Narrow italics. Appendix 1 describes the sounds of these characters.

When the subscript * is used, it denotes anyone of the special fonts used in Aboriginal words.

The Tharumba Language of Southern NSW: Who was right P.G. King or C. Darwin?

Chris Illert and John Murphy, Summary: This essay or short booklet explores some ideas. The one thing that is missing from the sense of linguistics is time. Which languages came from which predecessors over the last tens of thousands of years and why? For two hundred years we have pondered this.

Philip Gidley King (the Younger) studied the Tharumba Language in late 1830's, and must have discussed it with his personal friend Charles Darwin on numerous occasions.

The result was that Darwin's theory is accepted today and King's theory has slipped into oblivion. Could it be because King's language was creationism, as opposed to Darwinian evolution? This needs to be resolved after two centuries, and the Tharumba language is a perfect example.

1. Introduction Philip Gidley King the Younger (1817-1904), the only P.G. King mentioned in this article, was eventually a pastoralist born the eldest son of Captain Phillip Parker King and his wife Harriet, nee Lethbridge. At the tender age of 5 he journeyed with his father to England where, in 1824-5, he attended school at Bexley Palace near Deptford.

In 1826-30 he sailed with his father in the British survey ship, the 330 ton HMS Adventure, to survey the southern coast of South America and more particularly the Straits of Magellan and the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The Adventure was accompanied by the second survey ship, the 235 tons barque HMS Beagle, captained by Pringle Stokes. Under his father's strict tutelage he continued his studies on board, for a total of four years, navigating the rough and stormy seas of the Southern Ocean including round Cape Horn. He was virtually pressed into service in the Royal Navy by his father, and at the age of 12 was listed on the ships books as Executive Officer a Volunteer 1st class.

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During this time he learned much of the ways of the world, mixed with the Patagonian and Qawasqar (Terra del Fuego) Indians and members of other Indigenous cultures, which must have greatly broadened his outlook. But the old knowledge was always there as recorded in his notebook, compiled a few years later, where Latin, the humanities, natural science, and mathematics (including trigonometry essential for navigation and survey) were on the curriculum, and learning was encouraged by the threat of a belting with a sturdy piece of rope if he turned up for the next shipboard lesson unprepared from what he learnt at the former.

Weeks of overcast and depressive weather, on 1st August 1828, caused Captain Stokes of the Beagle to attempt suicide by trying to blow his brains out. Though unsuccessful initially, he died 11 days later. Command of the vessel was taken over by Assistant Surveyor William Skyring, who took the ship for repairs to Montevideo and a new commander Robert Fitzroy who in turn returned to England.

By December 1831 P.G. King left England, as a midshipman in HMS Beagle, to continue the South American survey with R. Fitzroy in command. Because of the loneliness and melancholy, and the demise of Captain Stokes, Fitzroy took with him a gentleman to dine at his table and keep company. This gentleman was of course Charles Darwin who is listed as the ship's geologist and naturalist. He also became a lifelong friend of P.G. King who during a break in the voyage at Boto Fogo, an attractive suburb of Rio de Janeiro, shared accommodation and helped Darwin to hunt beetles and butterflies in the now famous inter-national collection. Also present, for a time, was the artist Conrad Martins later famous for his oil paintings of g:wurĘŠl:i (later Fitzroy Falls) near Bong Bong (Illert 2003c, pp 20-21).

On 12 January 1836 P.G. King returned to Sydney and rejoined his parents who held a number of properties from Parramatta to as far inland as the Murrumbidgee. Accordingly Darwin made his excursion about as far as Wallerawang, for two weeks studying the countryside and talking to locals. On Darwin's last night in Sydney, on the 26th, he dined with fellow voyager the young midshipman P.G. King at his parent's property at Dunheved.

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Figure 1. Philip Gidley King, 5th Dec 1897. State Library of NSW, P1/892

Figure 2. Rev. W.B. Clark (1860), "Researches in the Southern Goldfields of New South Wales", page 234. of New South Wales", p234 It was in 1836-8 that P.G. King went to Murrumbidgee where he recorded the language and culture of the Upland tribes. It is clear from the fact he had local Aboriginal guides, and travelling companions, that so much of the information is first hand. In particular "Hannibal Hamilton" who may be equivalent to "Jacumba Hamilton", there being no H in lingo, was a prominent Indigenous figure in the opening of the Tumut River district.

Also the pages of King's notebook are riddled with local indigenous words and placenames, as for Snowy Mountain which was probably first recorded as "munyang" (P.G. King, 1837) then as "moniong" (Rev. W.B. Clark, 1860). Clearly they can't both be correct and, actually, neither are. The problem is that several of the characters are best avoided whilst other English characters aren't useful for Aboriginal words.

Elsewhere we have used an adaptation of the International Phonetic Alphabet (Illert, 2013). The Appendix has a list of fonts and sounds. In this the problem becomes,

mʊ(ra) - nʊ(ra) - ŋ(uru) great

yonder

→ "maia:nhaia:ng"

oscillation

or if he asked someone else, or even the same person on a different occasion, it would equivalently be

nʊ(ra) - mʊ(ra) - ŋ(uru) yonder

great

oscillation

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→ "nhaia:maia:ng" .

On the right, quotes indicate estimates of spelling in an English type alphabet. In Aboriginal language both are the same, and are seen to be the same. To an English person, however, they would seem to be different - but they are not. King missed this plethora of equivalent Aboriginal language words, as did generations of following scholars. With completion of the detailed survey, and write up of "The Voyage of the Beagle 1826-1836 ..." (publ. 1839), P.G. King felt free to try his hand at a pastoral life.

He worked for Australian Agricultural Co. and in 1843 married his cousin Elizabeth Macarthur, moved with his family to south of Tamworth where he served on the NSW Legislative Council. He died at Double Bay on 5 August 1904.

2. frequency & Tribal Boundaries Illert (2004, p75) showed 62 estimated Proto-Australian words and the relative percentage frequencies of word initial consonants, f*, in that particular word list. Now days we have guessed new words, and can give even better frequency distributions, but all this is unnecessary as the old frequency is good enough to uniquely determine all of the language zones mapped by Illert (2005, 10 16.1 b reproduced here in Figure 4). For now we 11 17.8 g will accept f*, as things are, but study the differences ∆ f * between F* (modern word frequencies), and f* (proto-Australian word frequency), in order to see the changes in time

∆ f*

=

F * - f*

in particular

Ɛ1 = (∆ f m + ∆ f g) + (∆ f ŋ + ∆ f b) Ɛ2 = ∆ f ɲ + (∆ f ᶁ + ∆ f y) Ɛ3 = ∆ fw + (∆ fn + ∆ fd) + (∆ fn + ∆ fd)

m ŋ ɲ ᶁ y n n d d w

14 5 6 3 0 3 1 0 3 6

22.6 8.1 9.7 4.8 0 4.8 1.6 0 4.8 9.7

word initial consonant

62 words =N

N*100/62 = f (%)

Figure 3. Imagine the initial proto-

... such that Ɛ1 + Ɛ2 + Ɛ3 = 0 .

In this way we can determine signatures, to indicate language boundaries (see Figure 4).

This definition is particularly useful in the four cases cited herein (Tables 1 to 4).

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Australian wordlist with frequencies f* (see Appendix 2). These 60,000 year old words are not arbitrary. They must be part Original-A, part Original-B, and part Turruwal.

Analysis of P.G. King wordlist at Welaregang, Upper Murray, Walgalu speaking people, 1837-8 10 13.9 b ∆ fb = 13.9 -16.1 = -2.2 14 19.4 g ∆ fg = 19.4 -17.8 = 1.6 Ɛ1 = 3.4 20 27.8 m ∆ fm = 27.8 -22.6 = 5.2 5 6.9 ŋ ∆ fŋ = 6.9 - 8.1 = -1.2 1 1.4 ɲ ∆ fɲ = 1.4 - 9.7 = - 8.3 2 2.8 ᶁ ∆ fᶁ = 2.8 - 4.8 = -2 Ɛ2 = -2 6 8.3 y ∆ fy = 8.3 - 0 = 8.3 5 6.9 n ∆ fn = 6.9 - 4.8 = 2.1 0 0 n ∆ fn = 0 - 1.6 = -1.6 1 1.4 d ∆ fd = 1.4 - 0 = 1.4 Ɛ3 = -1.5 5 6.9 d ∆ fd = 6.9 - 4.8 = 2.1 3 4.2 w ∆ fw = 4.2 - 9.7 = -5.5 word initial consonant

72 words =N

N*100/72 = F (%)

THARUMBA

sgn(Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3) = sgn(3.4, -2, -1.5) =

+, -, -

Table 1. An area of land toward the far left near Murray River. See Figure 2.

Analysis of Blanket Issue, Monaroo Tribe at Janevale, Tuggeranong Homestead, 1834

b g m ŋ ɲ ᶁ y n n d d w

6 6 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2

37.5 37.5 0 0 0 6.3 6.3 0 0 0 0 12.4

word initial consonant

16 words =N

N*100/16 = F (%)

∆ fb = 37.5 - 16.1 = 21.4 ∆ fg = 37.5 - 17.8 =19.7 ∆ fm = 0 - 22.6 = -22.6 ∆ fŋ = 0 - 8.1 = -8.1 ∆ fɲ = 0 - 9.7 = - 9.7 ∆ fᶁ = 6.3 - 4.8 = 1.5 ∆ fy = 6.3 - 0 = 6.3 ∆ fn = 0 - 4.8 = -4.8 ∆ fn = 0 - 1.6 = -1.6 ∆ fd = 0 - 0 = 0 ∆ fd = 0 - 4.8 = - 4.8 ∆ fw = 12.4 - 9.7 = 2.7 THARUMBA

sgn(Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3) = sgn(10.4, -1.9, -8.5) = +, -, Table 2. An area of land toward the centre as shown in Figure 7.

5

Ɛ1 = 10.4

Ɛ2 = -1.9

Ɛ3 = -8.5

Analysis of Louisa Atkinson, Southern Highlands, list of battle artefacts, 1854 3 50 b ∆ fb = 50 -16.1 = 33.9 1 16.7 g ∆ fg = 16.7 - 17.8 = -1.1 Ɛ1 = 18.7 1 16.7 m ∆ fm = 16.7 -22.6 = -5.9 0 0 ŋ ∆ fŋ = 0 - 8.1 = -8.1 0 0 ɲ ∆ fɲ = 0 - 9.7 = -9.7 0 0 Ɛ 2 = -14.5 ᶁ ∆ fᶁ = 0 - 4.8 = - 4.8 0 0 y ∆ fy = 0 - 0 = 0 0 0 n ∆ fn = 0 - 4.8 = - 4.8 0 0 n ∆ fn = 0 - 1.6 = -1.6 Ɛ3 = -4.2 0 0 d ∆ fd = 0 - 0 = 0 0 0 d ∆ fd = 0 - 4.8 = -4.8 1 16.7 w ∆ fw = 16.7- 9.7 = 7 word initial consonant

6 words =N

N*100/6 = F (%)

THARUMBA

sgn(Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3) = sgn(18.7, -14.5, -4.2) = Table 3.

+, -, -

Analysis of Sir Thomas Mitchell, Stonequarry (= Picton), word-list, 1830's b g m ŋ ɲ ᶁ y n n d d w

18 30 15 5 0 3 6 3 0 4 4 8

18.8 31.2 15.6 5.2 0 3.1 6.3 3.1 0 4.2 4.2 8.3

word initial consonant

96 words =N

N*100/96 = F (%)

∆ fb = 18.8 - 16.1 = 2.7 ∆ fg = 31.2 - 17.8 = 13.4 ∆ fm = 15.6 - 22.6 = -7 ∆ fŋ = 5.2 - 8.1 = -2.9 ∆ fɲ = 0 - 9.7 = -9.7 ∆ fᶁ = 3.1 - 4.8 = -1.7 ∆ fy = 6.3 - 0 = 6.3 ∆ fn = 3.1 - 4.8 = -1.7 ∆ fn = 0 - 1.6 = -1.6 ∆ fd = 4.2 - 0 = 4.2 ∆ fd = 4.2 - 4.8 = -0.6 ∆ fw = 8.3 - 9.7 = -1.4

Ɛ1 = 6.2

Ɛ2 = -5.1

Ɛ3 = -1.1

THARUMBA

sgn(Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3) = sgn(6.2, -5.1, -1.1) =

+, -, -

Table 4. The tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 all have the same signature sgn(Ɛ) = +, -, - implying that they all lie inside the same language region from Upper Murray to Picton.

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Figure 4. Illustration from Illert (2005, p. 631).

In the four proceeding Tables, and Figure 4 above, the signature +, -, - corresponds to Tharumba. The locations Upper Murray (King) to Picton (Mitchell) all fall along this route.

Alex Murdoch in his 19th century legend of "the First Bushfire", cited by C.W. Peck (1925; 56-57), told of a zone: "somewhere in the south, perhaps over in Victoria, there lived a great king. His tribe was very numerous, for he imposed his will upon other tribes and welded them together. He must have come as far north as the Burrogorang, - if, indeed, he did not come further - for the Hunter River natives have a story somewhat similar to this".

He was obviously talking of this place in words that we can understand.

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mʊra - ŋ

→ "murri:ng", ("black man")

large creature

bʊla -

ŋ

→

"bullaa:n", ("woman, black gin")

sprouty creature

mulʊ - ŋʊn familiar

→ "mallu:ngan", ("girl")

YES

mu(rʊ):mu(rʊ) - gʊn:g(ʊn) → "moo:mu:gan:g ", ("white person") small

extremely

mʊra:m(ʊra) - ŋʊn → "maroo:m:ban(g) ", ("good") greatly

YES

nʊŋ - gʊla:g(ʊn:i) → "nanni:golo:(n)g : ", ("bad") NOT

very shining

ŋʊ(n) - g(ʊla :i) - gʊn:g(ʊn) → "ya:b::bun:g ", ("great, big") YES

shining

extremely

Figure 5. From Philip G. King's word list (1837), Upper Murray & Highlands Region.

3. Some Tharumba vocabulary Philip G. King's list of demonstrable Tharumba words (1836-8) contains the constructions shown above (Figure 5). We see from this that some words were interchangeable, within the word cluster, with no significance to meaning. In the above the double dots indicate words which may not quite follow this rule, but apart from this the word meaning "bad" or "wrong", nʊŋ - gʊla:g(ʊn:i), appears in OriginalB, Huygens Circle and Southern-B languages (Illert 2013, p. 68) as well in the Wolgal or Walgalu language recorded by P.G. King throughout 1836-38. Conversely, on the other hand, the permutation gʊn:g(ʊla):i - nʊŋ appears in Original-A, Huygens Circle and Southern-B language zones too (Illert 2013, p. 68).

Clearly there is no difference in meaning. It is therefore important to realise that in the 60,000 years of language, word order for the most part has mattered little. Only relatively recently, since dictionaries were created, has word order been made to matter.

But this is a relatively recent and untypical thing, in regards to Aboriginal language.

There are other relevant Tharumba wordlists too, such as the "Argyle" list from J.D. Lang (1840's), but the list of Sir Thomas Mitchell (1830's) is particularly interesting containing the same form of corroborating words, but also additional Picton words not given by King.

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mʊ(ra) - ŋ large

→ " nai:n ", ("big creature")

creature

mulʊ - ŋʊn → " mulla:gnan ", ("female infant") familiar

YES

(gʊn):gʊla:(i) - ŋʊn → " :coolaye::tan(g) ", ("good") very shining

YES

(nʊŋ) - gʊla:gʊn:(i) → " :gara:guin: ", ("bad") NOT

very shining as well as

ŋʊ(n)

→ " eue " , ("yes")

YES

gura - nʊŋ → " garra:gin ", ("no") greatly

NO

mʊlu - b(ʊlu) → " marru:p ", ("lightning") unexpected above

mʊlʊ visual

ŋ → " mallya: ", ("eagle") creature

mi(rʊ) - dʊ(la):ŋ zero

one creature

bula(la) two

ŋ

→ " pulla: ", ("two")

creatures

wularʊ three

→ " me:du:ng ", ("one")

ŋ

→ " colluerr: ", ("three")

creatures

(ɲara):barʊ - ( ɲara:barʊ) → " :borre:: ", ("four") square

Figure 6. From the wordlist of Sir T. Mitchell (1830's), Picton.

In this list, in Figure 6, there are simple words for "man", "female infant", "good" and "bad". But there are also words for "yes", "no", "lightning", "eagle", "one", "two", "three", and also a misunderstanding for "four". Compare King's word "black man", with Mitchell's "big creature". We see that these words, right of arrow, are actually condensations from more fundamental expressions shown left of the arrow. They are often pronounced differently by the same speaker and truncated almost randomly. So even the simple words have a form of complexity. Illert (2013, p 82) showed that these words, as recorded at the time, are thus simplifications. They have in some cases required an explanation which has not been possible until now.

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Figure 7. W.R. Govett's drawing of a Corroboree at Lake George ACT, organised by King Cobra Maitland, early in 1830's. Is this the Great King? It is estimated that there were 180 people present ... the Saturday Magazine, 25th June, 1836, p241.

Figure 8. W.R. Govett's drawing of part of the Tarlo camp, near Goulburn NSW, early 1830's ... the Saturday Magazine, 13th August, 1836, p57. ...

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Word analysis of the song recorded 13th. August, 1836 b 3 27.27 g 1 9.09 m 4 36.36 ŋ 0 0 ɲ 0 0 ᶁ 0 0 y 1 9.09 n 0 0 n 0 0 d 0 0 d 2 18.18 w 0 0 word initial consonant

11 words =N

by W.R. Govett, the Saturday Magazine, ∆ fb = 27.27 - 16.1 = 11.17 ∆ fg = 9.09 - 17.8 = -8.71 ∆ fm = 36.36 - 22.6 = 13.76 ∆ fŋ = 0 - 8.1 = -8.1 ∆ fɲ = 0 - 9.7 = -9.7 ∆ fᶁ = 0 - 4.8 = -4.8 ∆ fy = 9.09 - 0 = 9.09 ∆ fn = 0 - 4.8 = -4.8 ∆ fn = 0 - 1.6 = -1.6 ∆ fd = 0 - 0 = 0 ∆ fd = 18.18 - 4.8 = 13.38 ∆ fw = 0 - 9.7 = -9.7

N*100/11 = F (%)

Ɛ1 = 8.12

Ɛ2 = -5.41

Ɛ3 = -2.72

THARUMBA

sgn(Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3) = sgn(8.12, -5.41, -2.72) =

+, -, -

Table 5. Govett's Tharumba is the same for mostly four syllable words within songs.

W. R. Govett describes what a Corroboree was like "at the expense of a little tobacco,"and states that some were performed in private away from Europeans (the Saturday Magazine, 25th June 1836, Figure 7). In a follow up article (the Saturday Magazine, 13th August 1836, Figure 8) Govett visits Tarlo and records the song "he:min, he:min, ya - baia - baia, murrel - murrel, ban:gala" (the punctuation is ours). He does not record the song's meaning and notes that the Aboriginal people "... seldom or never fail to chant a song before they lie down to sleep ..." and their ”language... has often struck me as being like the Greek....". He also notes that "they catch our language much sooner than we do theirs ...".

Using the estimated Proto-Australian words of Illert (2004) a better rendering is

dʊ(la):miɲ , dʊ(la):miɲ , the one

the one

i-bʊ(lu)-bʊ(lu), murʊl(a)-murʊl(a), rising (belly)

(clapping) hands

ŋʊn:gʊla excellent

... analysis of the song's words (Table 5), shows the song is Tharumba.

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Word analysis of L.E. Threlkeld's corroboree song, the Sydney Gazette, 5th.

January, 1826 b 3 17.647 ∆ fb = 17.647 - 16.1 = 1.55 g 1 5.882 ∆ fg = 5.882 - 17.8 = -11.92 Ɛ1 = -29.3 m 1 5.882 ∆ fm = 5.882 - 22.6 = -16.72 ŋ 1 5.882 ∆ fŋ = 5.882 - 8.1 = -2.22 ɲ 1 5.882 ∆ fɲ = 5.882 - 9.7 = -3.82 ᶁ 1 5.882 ∆ fᶁ = 5.882 - 4.8 = 1.08 Ɛ2 = 9.03 y 2 11.765 ∆ fy = 11.765 - 0 = 11.76 n 1 5.882 ∆ fn = 5.882 - 4.8 = 1.08 n 0 0 ∆ fn = 0 - 1.6 = -1.6 d 0 0 ∆ fd = 0 - 0 = 0 Ɛ3 = 20.19 d 3 17.647 ∆ fd = 17.647 - 4.8 = 12.85 w 3 17.647 ∆ fw = 17.647 - 9.7 = 7.95 word initial consonant

17 words =N

N*100/17 = F (%)

SOUTHERN-B

sgn(Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3) = sgn(-29.3, 9.03, 20.19) =

-, +, +

Table 6. The finding of Southern-B matches Threlkeld's early linguistic work.

Ten years before Govett's article, on the 5th January 1826 the Rev. L.E. Threlkeld reported in a letter to the Editor of the Sydney Gazette a song which he heard from somewhere in the "Sydney region" (words analysed in Table 6) ... they were "yulo:burrah:mirre:te::ne, tur:ah:warrah-ne-a(h):bah-ya:ya, tan-doro(h):l:-kore" (the punctuation is ours). He explained "the exceeding scantiness of my knowledge of their language precludes, as yet, an English translation". The English editor added a footnote to "classical gentlemen" that their response "will be gratefully acknowledged". To our knowledge there has thus far been no response. Had the missionary been more content to listen to Aboriginals, than to preach at them, he might have had results two centuries ago. In any case an interpretation of concepts can now be attempted and an approximate translation to English arrived at. Whilst Threlkeld may have encountered the song in Sydney, analysis of the words (Table 6) suggests the song is from Southern-B which places it south of Jervis Bay. In particular the dhurga highlands, near today's Braidwood, seem the most likely origin as it would have been only 50km away to the annual ceremonies. Aboriginal people were good travellers and thus could share their corroboree songs and Bogong Moths alike. This is probably how the song arose, but how Threlkeld found it in Sydney would have been through unknowable sources from the largely unknown South Coast. In any event a translation of song is as follows -

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→

wuli - burʊ:mʊra:dʊ(la:n) - ɲi(nuŋ) -'s

noisy large thing = party or corroboree

our (plur. incl.)

"yulo:burrah:mirre:te::ne" = party our's

dar(a:wur)ʊl(a) - wurʊ(la) - ŋu(r) - i:bʊ(lu) - ya(ŋa): ya(ŋa) legs (plural) = dance

lots of

we

= shall

→

= (and) sing-sing

"tur:ah:warrah-ne-a(h):bah-ya:ya" = we shall dance & sing, sing

→

ᶁun - dara:(bula)l(a:n) - gʊra my

= legs (two)

(and) throat

"tan-doro(h):l:-kore" = (O'h) my legs (and) throat

Threlkeld's punctuation is not helpful, but he did hear the main syllables and recorded them clearly. The word "core-burrah" for party simply means "noisy throat", shown here. This song appears to be composed by a fluent speaker. It is fun. Southern-B language is about 30,000 years old so the song can be any portion of this itself. The fluent dhurga speaker here was passing on cultural significance, even if it was in a neighbouring language, which extends all the way down to Victoria.

Yet another song involves a death, and was personal (The Sydney Gazette, 27th September, 1826). Rev. L.E. Threlkeld was allowed to witness the event describing it as, "...they borrowed spades to dig the grave, and when completed ... an old woman stooped down to the corpse, which was wrapped in sheets of bark; she opened the part over the ear, and spoke to the dead body, saying 'boang-ka, leah, boang-ka-leah, weah-lah ngaahrun, buhn-buhn, buhn, wonnun ngaan bah unte kaploah' which rendered into English, is 'stand up, stand up, speak to us, kiss, kiss, kiss, whenever we pass this place'. ". The translation "kiss, kiss, kiss" seems ridiculous. When asked King Cobra said the ceremony was in honour of the moon, but another man, "stepped up and said "New Zealand man's dance." He meant the name to mislead for they are very secret in all their religious ceremonies." Perhaps these grieving women were similarly misleading Rev. L.E. Threlkeld. An analysis of the song's words (Table 7) shows it is coastal Original-B, and an alternative to the translation by Threlkeld is as follows -

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creature

creature

bʊ(ru) - ŋ - gulʊ

;

still rigor-mortis = ghost, spirit

bʊ(ru) -

ŋ - gulʊ

;

still rigor-mortis = ghost, spirit

w(ur)ʊla:ŋuru - nʊ(ra:wara:n) lots of oscillations = vigorous(ly)

yonder-distant-thing = sky(ward)

bʊ(lu:i):n(ʊra) up yonder = ascending

bʊ(lu:i):n(ʊra) - bʊ(lu:i):n(ʊra) up yonder = ascending

up yonder = ascending

wu(rʊla):ŋu(ru):n:(bulala) - ɲun ; lots of arms (two) = flight

your's

bʊ(lu):n(ʊra):d(ar):i - ga(rʊ):bulʊ =

arising

→

= from death

"boa:ng:kaleah; boa:ng:kaleah; weahlah:ngaahru - n:: bu::n - bu::n - bu::n wo:nnu:n: - ngan, bahu:n:t:e - ka:ploah" = (Spirit; vigorously (proceed with) your Skyward Ascent; Overcoming Death)

An indication of the contemporary lack of sensitivity to indigenous culture is suggested

by W. R. Govett's sketch of Christian ministers standing upright, with arms outreached, as if preaching to the grieving women at a funeral scene at Mount Wayo near Goulbourn (see Figure 9). Perhaps Rev. L.E. Threlkeld was also an unwelcome intruder on a private funeral ceremony and the women were not amenable at that time to giving him an accurate translation of their song. The coastal song, in Original-B may be as old as 45,000 years, whilst Christianity is a little more than 2,000 years old.

14

Word analysis of L.E. Threlkeld's funeral song, the Sydney Gazette, 27th.

September, 1826 b 8 29.63 ∆ fb = 29.63 - 16.1 = 13.53 g 3 11.11 ∆ fg = 11.11 - 17.8 = -6.69 Ɛ1 = -9.05 m 0 0 ∆ fm = 0 - 22.6 = -22.6 ŋ 4 14.81 ∆ fŋ = 14.81 - 8.1 = 6.71 ɲ 1 3.7 ∆ fɲ = 3.7 - 9.7 = -6 ᶁ 0 0 ∆ fᶁ = 0 - 4.8 = -4.8 Ɛ2 = -10.8 y 0 0 ∆ fy = 0 - 0 = 0 n 2 7.4 ∆ fn = 7.4 - 4.8 = 2.6 n 5 18.52 ∆ fn = 18.52 - 1.6 = 16.92 d 0 0 ∆ fd = 0 - 0 = 0 Ɛ3 = 19.83 d 1 3.7 ∆ fd = 3.7 - 4.8 = -1.1 w 3 11.11 ∆ fw = 11.11 - 9.7 = 1.41 word initial consonant

27 words =N

N*100/27 = F (%)

(coastal) ORIGINAL-B

sgn(Ɛ1, Ɛ2, Ɛ3) = sgn(-9.05, -10.8, 19.83) =

-, -, +

Table 7. The finding of (coastal) Original-B matches Threlkeld's work in later life.

Figure 9. W.R. Govett's sketch of Native Women weeping over a grave at Mount Wayo near Goulburn NSW. Note the tree squiggles (documented elsewhere by R. Etheridge), and the half-spherical earthen grave ... the Saturday Magazine, 5th November, 1836, p184.

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4. Conclusion P.G. King's training from a young age in the Royal Navy, collecting specimens and assisting Darwin, mixing with Patagonian and other American Indians, and the fact that his father often left the final official write-ups to him, says something important about the ability of this twenty year old. Comparing elements of his word-list to that of Sir T. Mitchell at Picton reveals great similarity. They both went out and recorded similar things in the same manner. Certainly enough to say they recorded the same language. But at the time they did not consider word shuffling permutations and thought they were hearing different words.

The fact was, as Aboriginal people knew, basic words could be shuffled around with little or no consequence to meaning. Each Indigenous language had a few different ways to say the same thing, with their same words shuffled, unlike English which had single fixed multi-syllable words. For example "bad/wrong" which has two completely reversible syllables without changing the meaning. But the unfamiliar white listeners thought they had recorded two different words. They had, in fact, two different permutations of the same thing. But it took two separate observers, on separate occasions, speaking the same language, to bring home the point.

Aboriginal people had known this word shuffling for perhaps 60,000 years, and they continued to do it in front of field observers, who failed to note it. This is why European observers never fully understood Aboriginal people, yet Aboriginal people fully understood the English.

They had seen the 1821 massacre of the Moss Vale tribe first hand, and burial in Mr Atkinson's mass internment on Gingenbullan, and were probably not inclined to argue (Illustrated Sydney News, 26 Nov. 1853, p59). This is why there was a Tharumba camp at Stonequarry (Picton), and another at Goulburn, and another at Janevale and another at Upper Murray ... but none at Moss Vale where almost an entire tribe was poisoned and buried (Illert, 2003c; Lawson, 1995, 1989). This followed in the five year wake of Governor Macquarie's 1816 General Order to soldiers, to punish the natives (HRA Sydney, 1917, series I, volume IX, pp 139-140), during which time the Tharumba Elder Dewal who was resident at Stonequarry (= Picton) was arrested and deported to Van Dieman's Land for the term of his natural life (the Sydney Gazette, 3rd August, 1816).

Taking the four known locations of the different groups, we obtain the same signature +, -, - from Upper Murray to Picton. But this is for unconnected alphabets of words.

We should try simple songs. The first is Govett's simple Tharumba song, indicated by a signature +, -, - . Then Threlkeld's corroboree song, with even more grammar, is Southern-B (probably

dhurga highlands from Braidwood) hence -, +, +.

16

Then his

funerary chant is -, -, + (coastal) Original-B, consistent with north coast where he gathered many songs. So it looks as if the words on their own, and joined together in chants, are sensible.

What then was P.G. King's under-standing of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and how did it relate to his view of linguistic evolution? One wonders what may have been discussed during the important supper at his parent's place. Darwin's theory, at its basic, was about the changes to physical morphology over time. Without time there would be no evolution. Young King probably did not consider time. Language was, he felt, completely created in full, but once. As a result it could not evolve. Darwin's theory did evolve, and King's theory of linguistics did not.

As a result the European theory of linguistics did not have the same need for any form of evolution for two hundred years. In recent times the theory of carbon dating has suggested something, but the real hub of the matter dates back to the clash of ideals between recorded evolutionary time, and religious creation in early 1800's. This was pre-evolution thinking documented in W.R. Govett's articles in the Saturday Magazine, and by Pastor L.E. Threlkeld's in the Sydney Gazette, etc. There really is no other possibility.

On the other hand, we can show the original language and all subsequent derivatives that evolved. We can show 15,000 year old language, 30,000 year old language, 45,000 year old language, and even roughly 60,000 year old language. They happened over time, not at a supernatural instant in time. We can suggest with some confidence, what P.G. King could not, that Tharumba language did evolve, i.e., it changed over the last 15,000 years.

Acknowledgements * We would like to thank the staff of the Mitchell Library Sydney, who were very helpful. * We would like to thank Michael Organ, chief archivist of University of Wollongong for helpful suggestions and advice on historical drawings. * We would like to thank Ann Fieldhouse for the various computer searches of the historical materials in this text: ann@fieldhouse.com.au * And also Daniela Reverberi for assistance with the software and formatting.

References ANDREWS, A.E.J. (1991), "1926 - 2014 Kosciusko - the Mountain in History", Tabletop Press, Canberra ACT. BETHEL, W.E. (13 May 1939), "Cape Horn Sailor, notable career of [Philip] Gidley King ...", Newcastle Sun, p.5.

CATYO, N. (1917, 1976), "Mister Maloga, Daniel Matthews and his mission, Murray River, 1864 - 1902", University of Queensland Press.

CLARK, Rev. W.B. (1860 ), "Researches in the Southern Goldfields of New South Wales", Reading and Wellback, Sydney.

DARWIN, C. (1839), "The Voyage of the Beagle", Wordsworth Classics of World Literature, Cumberland House, Hertfordshire, England.

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ETHEREDGE R. Jr. (1918), "The Dendroglyphs, or 'Carved Trees' of NSW", Dept. of Mines, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of NSW, Ethnological Series No. 3.

GILLESPIE, L.L. (1984), "Aborigines of the Canberra region", 1st book in the Canberra Local History Series, Canberra Publishing and Printing Co. GOVETT, W.R. (1836), Notes and Sketches of NSW, London.

GOVETT, W.R. (25 June 1836), "Sketches of NSW No. 1V ... the Corroboree, or national dance", the Saturday Magazine, 241-243.

GOVETT, W.R. (13th August 1836), "Sketches of NSW No VI ... the night scene - the Gunyas, or huts, of the Natives", the Saturday Magazine, 57-59.

GOVETT, W.R. (5th Nov. 1836), "Sketches of NSW No X, Native Women weeping over a grave", the Saturday Magazine, 183-184.

ILLERT, C. R. (2001), "The centenary of Mary Everitt's Gundungara grammar", Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 134: 19-44.

ILLERT, C. R. (2003a), "Lexigenesis in ancestral south-east-Australian Aboriginal language", Journal of Applied Statistics 30(2): 113-143.

ILLERT, C. R. (2003b), "Early ancestors of Illawarra's Wadi-Wadi people ...", Northern Illawarra Aboriginal Collective Inc., Wollongong, 50 pages.

ILLERT, C. R. (2003c), "Three sisters dreaming - or did Katoomba get its legend from Kangaroo Valley?", special supplement to the Shoalhaven Chronograph 23(9), 30 pages.

ILLERT, C. R. and ALLISON, A. (2004), "Phonogenesis and the Origin of Accusative Syntax in Proto-Australian Language", Journal of Applied Statistics 31(1): 73-104.

ILLERT, C. R. (2005), "Origins of Linguistic Zonation in the Australian Alps. Part 1 - Huygens' Principle", Journal of Applied Statistics 32(6): 625-659.

ILLERT, C. R. (2006), "Origins of Lin-guistic Zonation in the Australian Alps. Part 2 - Snell's Law", Journal of Applied Statistics 33(9): 989-1030.

ILLERT, C. R. (2013), "A mathematical approach to recovering the original Australian Aboriginal language", Ph.D. thesis, University of Western Sydney.

ILLERT, C. R. in press, "Reconstruction of the first 60,000 year old sentence", under review.

KING, P. Gidley the Younger (1836-1838), notebook, Mitchell Library Sydney, Call Location No. MAV/FM3/392.

Title of item ZB780.

KING, P. Gidley the Younger (1817-1904), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre for Biography, ANU. First published in hardcopy in volume 5, (MUP), 1974.

KING, P. Gidley the Younger, Historical Notes: Public Library of NSW/by F.M. Bladen (album view), call number 027.5/B Mitchell Library (printed books section).

KING, P. Parker (1791-1856), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre for Biography, ANU. First published in hardcopy in volume 2, (MUP), 1967.

KING, P. Parker (2nd October 1822), before the Philosophical Society of Australia, Natives of New South Wales.

Excerpted from his "On the Maritime Geography of Australia", Geographical memoirs on New South Wales, edited by Barron Field, London; John Murray, 1825, pp 269-295.

LANG, J.D. "Argyle Words", 46 in all, in Papers 1838-73, Vol 9, MS A2229, p 36-37, CY Reel 900. Mitchell Library, Sydney.

LAWSON, Elizabeth (1989), "Louisa Atkinson, the distant sound of native voices", Australian Defence Force Academy, Occasional Paper No. 15, pages 0-72.

LAWSON, Elizabeth (1995), "The natural Art of Louisa Atkinson", State Library of NSW Press, p 45 & 46.

MacALISTAIR, C. (1883/1907/1977), "old pioneering days in the sunny south", Star Printery Pty. Ltd., Erskineville N.S.W. MARTIN, G. (1963), "The First Settlement of the Tumbarumba District - an account of the early squatting era", self published, unpaginated.

MEREDITH, J. (1989), "the last Kooradgie, Moyangullie ...", Kangaroo Press.

MITCHELL, T. (1830's), Stonequarry ("Wollondilly River") word list in Mitchell Papers, MS A295-3, p 425, Mitchell Library, Sydney.

ORGAN, M. (1990), "Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines, 1770-1850", Aboriginal Education Unit, Wollongong University.

ORGAN, M. (1993), "Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines, 1770-1900", report for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Wollongong University.

PECK, C.W. (1925), "Australian Legends, tales handed down from the remotest times", Lothian Publishing Co., Melbourne. The story of the First Bushfire, pp. 56-57.

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ROSS, J. (1993), Chronicle of Australia, Chronicle Australasia Pty. Ltd, Ring-wood, Victoria.

SNOWDEN, H.E. (2012), "Pioneers of the Tumut Valley - history of the Early Settlement", 2nd Edition, Tumut & District Historical Society, PO Box 286, Tumut, NSW. THRELKELD, Rev. L.E. (5th January 1826), the Sydney Gazette, page 4.

THRELKELD, Rev. L.E. (27th September 1826), the Sydney Gazette, page 4.

A Tribute (1979), Louisa Atkinson of the Kurrajong, the Kurrajong Heights Garden Club, 24 pgs.

TUMBARUMBA SHIRE (1979), "Tumbarumba Shire - a district resources handbook", NSW. TUGGERANONG CENSUS, "Maneroo Tribe at Janevale Homestead", June 1834. NSW State Archives Office 4/2219.1.

WATSON, F. (1927), "a brief history of Canberra the capital city of Australia", Capital Press of Australia Ltd.

Appendix 1

Fonts used for Aboriginal words are all Callibri (or similar) in italic, except for a which is Arial narrow.

Fonts The sound used a a

b d d ᶁ g i l m n ŋ n ɲ r u w y ʊ

b d dh (dental d) dj g i l

Appendix 2 - continued over page The oldest compilation of words is that belonging to Original-A and spanning back about 60,000 years. Certainly no one recorded them at the time, but these basic ancient forms still reside within modern Aboriginal language (and European) for all to see. English, less than 1,000 years old, itself derives from them too. The existence of a phonetic alphabet allows us to see how Australian Aboriginal language evolved down its strands isolated in Australia.

m n ng nh ny r

In this oldest known list of words most are roughly four phonemes long, though some are six and yet others are three. These approximately sixty adjectives are about all that exist . . . entropy says so.

u

continued

w aya or perhaps aia

19

→

Appendix 2: - continued proto-Australian words

malʊ

bulʊ

gulʊ

= down, low, flat, dead, cessation

= dull, lethargic (as with Koala), petrified

bʊlu

gʊlu

= up, high, projecting, commencement

= shiny, radiant, vital, nice/good, alive

bulala = 2

gʊn = very

murʊla = 5

gula

mulʊ

= malevolent, deadly, treacherous, angry, sorcery

galu = benevolent, helpful, honest, happy

burʊ = noisy, quick, energetic, awake

bʊru = quiet, slow, lazy, tired, sleepy, still

gurʊ = flat, globular, convex, more

gʊru

= blind, obstructing, shielding, opaque, (eye) cataracts

mʊlʊ = visible, accessible, clear, channelling

= familiar, intimate

mʊlu = unfamiliar, strange, unexpected

malu = (air) bubbles (as with Platypus)

mula

= slim, concave, less

= (liquid) droplets, progeny, dust

garʊ

mala

= from, out-of, sound

= inflated, bulging, enhanced

gʊra

mulu

= between, compromise

= toward, into, throat, orifice, cave, valley

= deflated, shrivelled, emaciated, diminished

buru

gura

= bouncy, hoppy (as with Kangaroo)

= firm (as with stones, hail or muscles)

= large, greatly

bara

garu

murʊ

= waddling (as with Wallaby)

= squishy (like nasal mucous, fluffy (like clouds)

= small, slightly

gilʊ

mirʊ = 0

= behind, rear

= ahead, in front

barʊ = either-side, opposing

bʊra

20

mʊra

Appendix 2 - continued proto-Australian words

ɲin = here

nʊra = yonder, distant

dulu

ŋulu

= straight, extended, separated

= sinusoidal, wrinkled, crushed

dulʊ

wilʊ

= shabby, untidy, bent

= return, come-back

dʊla = 1

nurʊla = 4

singular, unity

ŋuru

darʊ

= cyclic, oscillatory, twinkle, shimmery

= about, external, outside surface

ŋara

dʊra

= knotted, coiled, spiral

= through, internal, inside

ɲara

miɲ

= full, solid

= the, a (singular)

ɲura

ɲun

= half, middle

= something (plural)

ɲuru

ɲuŋ

= empty, hollow

= someone's (plural)

wurʊla = 3 plural, several, lots of

wirʊ = profane, improper, left, cooked

wʊri = sacred, proper, right, aligned

wara = far, distant

wuru = away

wiɲ = wring, twist, rotate, spin, orbit

List of Proto Australian words, about 60,000 years old, are arguably the most ancient list in existence. Australian and European words alike derive from it. It really is that old and limited by entropy.

(Illert 2003b, pp 38-39; Illert 2013, pp 112-113)

It is important to note that all these words were given by Aboriginal people in the south-eastern zone of Australia, though most were recorded from them by poorly trained English speaking people who could barely spell. Wordlists of the past centuries contain both ancient and modern words. The trick is to tell them apart. In my thesis I derive each and every one from Aboriginal (Illert, 2013).

All of the songs given here are translated from this list of words provided by Aboriginal people. This is how it should be, not the other way round.

21

Appendix 3 The words dictated by entropy, and verified from wordlists of Aboriginal sources, give the following tree diagram for Aboriginal Australian. Somewhere near the top, proto-Australian, is the earliest wordlist ever given - shown here in Appendix 2. The language branches first into Turuwul, then into Original-B, then into Southern-B, then the Huygens Circle languages which form when Original-A collides with Southern-B (see Figure 4).

It is this Huygens Circle which arose 15,000 years ago and features the Thurumba language of this article. It is shown as a triangular cluster for clarity, but actually starts 15,000 years ago on the Southern-B line. The Midthung or Tharumba has signature +, -, - , Wolgalu has signature +, +, - , and Ĺ‹aragu or Ĺ‹unawal have the signature -, +, - which completes the set (Illert 2005, p 642; Illert 2013, p 196).

The degree of similarity between respective signatures is the basis for this tree diagram, showing the relatedness of Australian language super-families over deep time scales.

22