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Linguistic description between Kleinstaaterei and the Word of God

A case study of the 1838 Lutheran mission to South Australia

 | Universität Siegen
 | Independent scholar
Published online: 29 September 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00185.mce
Summary
This paper presents a case study of the linguistic work conducted by the German Lutheran missionaries Christian G. Teichelmann (1807–1888) and Clamor W. Schürmann (1815–1893) in producing grammars and dictionaries of Indigenous languages of South Australia, and the so-called ‘Adelaide School’ of linguistic description that emerged through their efforts and those of their missionary and colonial colleagues. The political circumstances through which the Lutheran mission to South Australia came into being and the material conditions under which missionary activity was undertaken are examined. This is followed by an investigation of the Adelaide School’s place in international scientific networks and its broader contributions to linguistic scholarship. Comparisons are drawn with other instances of linguistic and ethnographic fieldwork in Australia and the Pacific of the time.
Résumé
Cet article a pour objet l’étude du travail linguistique qu’effectuèrent les missionnaires luthériens allemands Christian G. Teichelmann (1807–1888) et Clamor W. Schürmann (1815–1893), lequel aboutit à des grammaires et des dictionnaires des langues autochtones de l’Australie du Sud, et celui de l’école de description linguistique dite ‘École d’Adelaide’, laquelle se forma sous leur impulsion et celle de leurs collègues missionnaires et coloniaux. On examine en particulier les circonstances politiques qui présidèrent à l’établissement de la mission luthérienne en Australie du Sud, et les conditions matérielles dans lesquelles l’activité missionnaire se déroula. Nous enquêtons ensuite sur la place de l’Ecole d’Adelaide au sein de réseaux scientifiques internationaux, et sur ses contributions en général au savoir linguistique. Des comparaisons sont faites avec d’autres exemples de travail de terrain de nature linguistique et ethnographique réalisé en Australie et dans le Pacifique à la même époque.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Beitrag präsentiert eine Fallstudie über die linguistische Arbeit der deutschen lutherischen Missionare Christian G. Teichelmann (1807–1888) und Clamor W. Schürmann (1815–1893) bei der Erstellung von Grammatiken und Wörterbüchern von Sprachen der Ureinwohner Südaustraliens sowie in deren Folge von der sogenannten ‚Adelaide School‘ der Sprachbeschreibung unter anderen zeitgenössischen Missionaren und kolonialen Beamten. Die politischen Umstände, die die lutherische Missionsarbeit in Südaustralien hervorbrachten, werden untersucht. Es folgt eine Übersicht der Stellung der ‚Adelaide School‘ in internationalen wissenschaftlichen Netzwerken und ihrer Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft sowie Vergleiche mit ähnlichen linguistischen und ethnographischen Feldforschungen in Australien und im Pazifik dieser Zeit.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Politics and religion
  • 3.Surviving in South Australia
  • 4.From the field to the library
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (75)
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