Hermann Klaatsch and his linguistic research in Northwestern Australia

This paper explores the little-known documentation of the Nyulnyul language of Dampier Land, Western Australia, by the German physician, anatomist, physical anthropologist and evolutionist Hermann Klaatsch (1863–1916). During his two stays at the Beagle Bay Mission in 1905 and 1906, Klaatsch compiled wordlists amounting to almost 900 words in Nyulnyul, some arranged alphabetically on the Nyulnyul term and some according to semantic domains. Most entries are identifiably Nyulnyul. We discuss Klaatsch’s motivations in compiling the wordlists, compare them with other early wordlists of Nyulnyul, and evaluate their quality and contribution to our knowledge of this now moribund language.