Australian Aboriginal Words In Dictionaries: A Reaction

Abstract

A recent evaluation of how English dictionaries have treated the etymologies of some words borrowed from Australian languages was based on the authors own etymologies. I have examined one of these, for boomerang, and show that it incorporates inaccuracies and distortions, and that the criticism of J. A. H. Murrays etymology is unfounded. I suggest how the authors methodology may have led him astray. Show more