Word.ws English Dictionary

palawa kani

palawa kani proper noun: a constructed language created as a composite of the now-extinct Tasmanian Indigenous languages.

Proper noun (1)

palawa kani

  1. A constructed language created as a composite of the now-extinct Tasmanian Indigenous languages.
    • Capitalization of proper nouns is not a feature of the Tasmanian language palawa kani.2013 September 15, Maggie Walter, Chris Andersen, Indigenous Statistics: A Quantitative Research Methodology, Left Coast Press, →ISBN, page 110
    • When Wikimedia legal counsel Michelle Paulson wrote that the palawa kani Wikipedia page would help strengthen and spread the language, Reynolds was angered by what she saw as the foundation’s refusal to accept another worldview that didn't see this as a benefit.2014 August 13, Adi Robertson, “Can you own a language?”, in The Verge, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2025

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Palawa Kani

Palawa Kani

  1. (proscribed) Alternative letter-case form of palawa kani.

Proper noun (3) capitalized: Palawa kani

Palawa kani

  1. (proscribed) Alternative letter-case form of palawa kani.
    • The TAC is not keen on non-Aboriginal users appropriating the language. It complained (unsuccessfully) to Wikipedia, protesting against it publishing an entry on Palawa kani. Its claim is that 'policies determining Aboriginal language use are based on the principle of Aboriginal control'.2018 March 30, John Hartley, “Creative economy: industry versus language?”, in Abbe E. L. Brown, Charlotte Waelde, editors, Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Creative Industries, Edward...

Questions about palawa kani

What does palawa kani mean?
Palawa kani means a constructed language created as a composite of the now-extinct Tasmanian Indigenous languages.
What part of speech is palawa kani?
Palawa kani is a proper noun.

Words near palawa kani in the dictionary

  1. palaverists
  2. palaverment
  3. palaverments
  4. palaverous
  5. palavers
  6. palawa kani
  7. Palawala
  8. Palawan
  9. Palawan bearcat
  10. Palawan bearcats
  11. Palawan tit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: palawa kani (page history and authors); Palawa Kani (page history and authors); Palawa kani (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “palawa kani.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/palawa_kani. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.