Yirandhali language
| Yirandhali | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Queensland |
| Extinct | (date missing) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ljw |
| AIATSIS[2] | L42 |
Yirandhali (Yirandali, Jirandali), also known as Pooroga,[3] is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of Hughenden in Central Queensland.[4]
There is very little information available about the languages of this region. Oral recounts suggest that the town area of Hughenden was a place that was passed through rather than a place that was used as a regular campsite. The Flinders River is often a dry river bed.
At the nearby Porcupine Gorge, in an area known locally as 'the Tattoos', there are signs of Aboriginal rock drawings. This area would have been a more reliable source of water.
Classification
A Pama–Nyungan language, Dixon (2002) speculated that the language may belong in the Maric subfamily, and this is accepted in Bowern (2011),[5] but this cannot be verified, due to the limited lexical material available.[6][7]
Grammar
One of the distinguishing features of the language is that every word ends with a vowel sound. For instance, the root word ŋamun (breast) common in other languages of the region has been incorporated in Yirandali as "ŋamuna".[6]
References
- ↑ RMW Dixon (2002), Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, p xxxiii
- ↑ Yirandhali at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ↑ Detailed record of the Jirandali, AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database
- ↑ Foundingdocs website
- ↑ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dixon, Robert (2002) Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. ISBN 0521473780.
- ↑ Koch, Harold (2004), A methodological history of Australian linguistic classification. ISBN 9027247617