Threlkeld provided sentence examples in his various writings and publications as shown in the following table. Use the buttons below to access each publication individually.
For an explanation of the five bar analysis used in the translations see here.
Sentences
There are some repetitions in these writings, such as the inclusion of the Spelling Book (1836) sentences among those used in the Key (1850). Threlkeld explained that he would at times associate with the local Aboriginal people specifically with the intention of acquiring vocabulary, and as a consequence some of the sentences throw light on what life was like at the time:
The dog, it is in the canoe.
On account of Wife I was furious.
Who has coloured thee with red ochre?
Paint her red, to be pretty.
I am sharpening a spear.
On account of the corpse she is crying.
Spear the fish with the spear.
Why do not the women go with the men?
Speak distinctly.
The mosquito is stinging me; piercing.
The horse threw him, or, he was thrown by the horse and killed.
He is thrashing wheat, or beating wheat.
Mind, lest you break the spade …
How does the snake
Many of the sentences are about going, coming, speaking, as well as beating and dying.
Karree list: Who compiled it?
The final set of sentences is the Karree list, found amongst the Threlkeld Papers in the Mitchell Library: 'A 382: Reverend Lancelot Edward Threlkeld papers, 1822-1862'. This collection contains letters from, and to, Threlkeld; printed items including his writings; and printed writings or fragments about him. The collection also includes the following vocabularies:
pp. 125-127 Australian Vocabulary, Port Macquarie aborigines
p. 129 Songs of the natives of New South Wales to the north of Sydney
pp. 130-140 Specimens of the Language of the Aborigines of New South Wales to the northward of Sydney
pp. 141-142 Native Language, Port Essington
pp. 143-144 Native Language, Port Raffles
The Karree list is the one in bold type, pages 130-140.
These five vocabularies appear to have been written by the same hand, but the handwriting features a distinctive way of rendering the capital ‘L’ which is unlike Threlkeld’s writing and suggests the author of these vocabularies was not Threlkeld. The image below shows five instances of the capital L from the Karree list, and two from the Australian Vocabulary, from Port Macquarie. Similar instances can be found in the vocabularies from Port Essington and Port Raffles, while there are no instances of the capital L in the Songs vocabulary.
Besides the handwriting suggesting that the author is not Threlkeld, there appears to be no record of Threlkeld having ever visited or had anything to do with Port Essington or Port Raffles. Port Essington was an early settlement on the Coburg Peninsula in the far north of the Northern Territory, while Raffles Bay—not Port Raffles—was nearby.
The Port Essington and ‘Port Raffles’ vocabularies in the Threlkeld Papers might have been compiled by one of the figures named in the Wikipedia information. The only one of those who might have visited these two places as well as Port Macquarie (definitely) and Lake Macquarie (perhaps) could be Philip Parker King. While the compiling of such a detailed list as the Karree one by P.P. King, who probably never visited the area, is unlikely, there remains the slight possibility of his having obtained the information from one of the Aboriginals he took with him on his voyages—perhaps Bungaree, who was from that area, on Mermaid, 1817-18. This voyage did not get to Raffles Bay. On another voyage in 1821-22, on Bathurst, King had with him the Sydney Aboriginal Bundell and travelled through the Torres Strait, visiting Port Darwin. Both these voyages happened before Threlkeld had established his mission station at Lake Macquarie, in the 1830s.
There are no other known likely contenders for the preparation, or transcription, of the Karree list, other than perhaps one of Threlkeld’s several children. It is likely these children might have become fluent in the local language, through contact with children of their own age. There are, however, no records of any of them having written anything.
Jeremy Steele 4 December 2020