''A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia'' is a book by

George Fletcher Moore George Fletcher Moore (10 December 1798 – 30 December 1886) was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one fthe key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite" (Cameron, 2000). He conducted a number of exploring ...

. First published in 1842, it represents one of the earliest attempts to record the languages used by the

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The book is a compilation by Moore based on the works of Robert Lyon,

Francis Armstrong Francis Fraser Armstrong (1813–1897) was a Scottish Methodist pioneer of the Swan River Colony who befriended and recorded the language of the Nyungar people in Western Australia. His father Adam Armstrong, was a well known early settler of We ...

Charles Symmons Charles Symmons (1749 – 27 April 1826) was a Welsh poet and priest. Life Symmons was the younger son of John Symmons, the MP for Cardigan. He was born in Cardigan in 1749 and educated at Westminster School, joining the school in 1765; he w ...

, the

Bussell family The Bussell family were a family of early settlers in colonial Western Australia. The four brothers John, Joseph Vernon, Alfred and Charles emigrated from England on ''Warrior'', arriving at Fremantle on 12 March 1830. Lenox, Frances and Eliz ...

and

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

, as well as his own observations. It was published in 1842 at the expense of Moore and

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

John Hutt John Hutt (24 July 1795 – 9 April 1880) was Governor of Western Australia from 1839 to 1846. Life Born in London on 24 July 1795, John Hutt was the fourth of 13 children of Richard Hutt of Appley Towers, Ryde, Isle of Wight. He was educated ...

. In 1884 it was republished as part of Moore's '' Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia and also A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines''. The work is a key source in records of the nomenclature of Australia's Southwest flora and fauna. The compilation of regional variants in the

Nyungar language Noongar (; also Nyungar ) is an Australian Aboriginal language or dialect continuum, spoken by some members of the Noongar community and others. It is taught actively in Australia, including at schools, universities and through public broadcastin ...

is cited in Serventy and Whittell ''

Birds of Western Australia This is a list of the wild birds found in Western Australia. The list includes introduced species, common vagrants, recently extinct species, extirpated species, some very rare vagrants (seen once) and species only present in captivity. 629 spec ...

'' and subsequent ornithological literature, although his own observations of bird-life remained unpublished until the 1884 edition of Moore's diary.

References

* Moore, George Fletcher (1884). ''Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia, and also A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines''. First published by M. Walbrook, London. Facsimile edition published in 1978 by Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. * Stannage, C. T. (1978). ''Introduction'' to Facsimile edition of Moore (1884).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia, A 1842 non-fiction books Books about Western Australia History of Indigenous Australians History of Western Australia Books about Indigenous Australians