Guugu Yalandji
RegionQueensland
EthnicityKuku Yalanji, Yungkurara, Kuku Nyungkal, Kokobididji, Kokobujundji, Kokokulunggur, Kokowalandja, Wakara, Wakaman,[a] Djankun, Muluridji, ?Wulpura
Native speakers
388 (2021 census)[5]
Pama–Nyungan
Dialects
  • Kuku-Yalanji
  • Kuku-Njungkul
  • Kuku-Bididji
  • Kuku-Dungay
  • Kuku-Buyundji
  • Kuku-Kulunggur
  • Kuku-Yalaja (Kuku-Yelandji)
  • Koko-Walandja
  • (Kuku-)Wakura
  • (Kuku-)Wakaman
  • (Kuku-)Djangun
  • (Kuku-)Muluridji
  • Kuku-Jakandji[6]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
gvn – Kuku-Yalanji
djf – Djangun
vmu – Muluridyi
Glottologyala1261
AIATSIS[7]Y78
ELPKuku-Yalanji
 Djangun[8]
 Muluridyi[9]

Guugu Yalandji, also spelt Kuku-Yalanji, is an Australian Aboriginal language of Queensland. It is the traditional language of the Kuku Yalanji people.

Speakers

Despite conflicts between the Kuku Yalanji people and British settlers in Queensland, the Kuku Yalanji language has a healthy number of speakers, and that number is increasing.[when?] Though the language is threatened, the language use is vigorous and children are learning it in schools. All generations of speakers have positive language attitudes.

The Kuku Yalanji still practise their traditional religion, and they have rich oral traditions. Many people in the Kuku Yalanji community also use English. Around 100 Kuku Yalanji speakers can both read and write in Kuku Yalanji.[when?]

Phonology

Vowels

Kuku-Yalanji uses the typical three-vowel system, /a, u, i/, used in other Aboriginal Australian languages.[10]

Front Back
High i u
Low a

Consonants

This table uses the standard orthography used by both linguists and the speech community. Where the orthography differs from the IPA representation, the orthography is in brackets.

Stop sounds can range between voiced and voiceless releases.[10]

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
Plosive p ~ b ⟨b⟩ t ~ d ⟨d⟩ c ~ ɟ ⟨j⟩ k ~ ɡ ⟨g⟩
Nasal m n ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Approximant w l ɻ ⟨r⟩ j ⟨y⟩
Trill r ⟨rr⟩

Footnotes

  1. ^ Not to be confused with the language of the Wakaman people, Wagaman, probably a variant of the mutually intelligible Agwamin and Wamin languages, Wakaman a dialect of Kuku Yalanji. See also Wagaman language (disambiguation).[1][2][3][4]

References

  1. ^ Y108 Wagaman at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ^ Y132 Agwamin at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ^ Y132.1 Wamin at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  4. ^ Y233 Wakaman at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  5. ^ "SBS Australian Census Explorer". Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  6. ^ Dixon, RMW (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. xxxii.
  7. ^ Y78 Guugu Yalandji at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  8. ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Djangun.
  9. ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Muluridyi.
  10. ^ a b Patz, Elisabeth (2002). A Grammar of the Kuku Yalanji Language of North Queensland (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 527. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/pl-527. hdl:1885/146148. ISBN 978-0-85883-534-4.

External links

Pama–Nyungan languages
Authority control databases: National
Category