| Gamilaraay | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spoken in | Central northern New South Wales | |||
| Native speakers | 3 (1997) | |||
| Language family |
Pama–Nyungan
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| Writing system | Latin | |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-3 | kld | |||
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The Gamilaraay or Kamilaroi (see below for other spellings) language is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup found mostly in South East Australia. It was the traditional language of the Kamilaroi people, but is now moribund—according to Ethnologue, there were only 3 speakers left in 1997. However, there are thousands of people of mixed descent both within the native populations as well as immigrant populations, who identify themselves as Kamilaroi. Kamilaroi is also taught in some Australian schools.
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The name Gamilaraay means gamil-having, gamil being the word for "no". Other dialects and languages are similarly named after their respective words for "no". (Compare the division between Langue d'oïl and Langue d'oc in France, distinguished by their respective words for "yes".)
Spellings of the name, pronounced [ɡ̊aˌmilaˈɻaːj] (listen) in the language itself, include:
Southern Aboriginal guides led the surveyor John Howe to the upper Hunter River above present-day Singleton in 1819. They told him that the country there was "Coomery Roy [=Gamilaraay] and more further a great way", meaning to the north-west, over the Liverpool Range (see O'Rourke 1997: 29). This is probably the first record of the name.
A basic wordlist collected by Major Thomas Mitchell in February, 1832 is the earliest written record of Gamilaraay.
The Presbyterian missionary William Ridley studied the language from 1852 to 1856.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i, iː | u, uː |
| Low | a, aː | |
/wa/ is realized as [wo].
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Dental | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
|
| Stop | b | ɡ | ɟ | d̪ | d | |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n̪ | n | |
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Rhotic | r | ɻ | ||||
| Semivowel | w | j | ||||
Initially, /wu/ and /ji/ may be simplified to [u] and [i].
All long vowels in a word get equal stress. If there are no long vowels, stress falls on the first syllable.
Secondary stress falls on short vowels which are two syllables to the right or to the left of a stressed syllable.
Several loanwords have entered Australian English from Gamilaraay, including:
| Common nouns | ||
|---|---|---|
| Anglicised form | Gamilaraay | Meaning |
| bindi-eye, bindii, bindies | bindayaa | The burrs of several plant species that stick in one's feet. |
| brolga | burralga | A bird species, Grus rubicunda. |
| possibly budgerigar | gidjirrigaa | A bird species, Melopsittacus undulatus. |
| Proper nouns | ||
| Anglicised form | Gamilaraay | Meaning |
| Kamilaroi | gamilaraay | The Gamilaraay people or language. |
| Placenames | ||
| Anglicised form | Gamilaraay | Meaning |
| Boggabri | bagaaybaraay | having creeks |
| Boggabilla | bagaaybila | full of creeks |
| Collarenebri | galariinbaraay | having acacia blossoms |
Ash, Anna et al. Gamilaraay, Yuwaaaraay and Yuwaalayaay Dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press 2003.