Gamilaraay language
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| Gamilaraay | |
|---|---|
| Darling tributaries | |
| Region | Central northern New South Wales |
| Ethnicity | Gamilaraay people |
| Extinct | "recently extinct" as of 2007[1] |
| Revival | 37 speak mixed Gamilaraay–English (2006 census)[1] |
|
Pama–Nyungan
|
|
| Dialects |
Gamilaraay
Yuwaalaraay
Yuwaaliyaay (Euahlayi)
Gunjbaraay
Gawambaraay
Wirray Wirray (Wiriwiri)[2]
Walaraay[3]
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kld |
| Glottolog | gami1243[4] |
| AIATSIS[5] | D23 |
A map of the tribes of New South Wales, published in 1892. Gamilaraay is marked I.
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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 35 speakers left in 2006, all mixing Gamilaraay and English.[6] 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.
Contents
Name
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".) "yarma" means "hello".
Spellings of the name, pronounced [ɡ̊aˌmilaˈɻaːj] (listen) in the language itself, include:
- Camilaroi
- Kamalarai
- Kamilaroi
- Gamilaraay
- Gamilaroi
Geographic distribution
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Dialects
- Yuwaalaraay
- Yuwaaliyaay (Euahlayi)
- Gunjbaraay
- Gawambaraay
- Wirray Wirray (Wiriwiri)[2]
- Walaraay
History
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.
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Phonology
Vowel
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i, iː | u, uː |
| Low | a, aː | |
/wa/ is realized as [wo].
Consonants
| 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].
Stress
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.
Grammar
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Gamilaraay words in English
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. |
| galah | gilaa | A bird species, Eolophus roseicapilla |
| 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 |
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gamilaraay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 There is quite some confusion over the names Wirray Wirray, Wiriyarray, and Wirraayarray. See AIATSIS:Wirray Wirray
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- ↑ Gamilaraay at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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Ash, Anna et al. Gamilaraay, Yuwaaaraay and Yuwaalayaay Dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press 2003.
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Further reading
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External links
- http://yuwaalaraay.org/ has information about recent Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay language development and links to numerous language resources.
- The Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) Language, northern New South Wales — A Brief History of Research (PDF)
- Gutenberg Project Browse By Language: Gamilaraay
- Online dictionary
- Bibliographies of published, rare or special materials on Gamilaraay language and people, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- Bibliographies of published, rare or special materials on Yuwaalaraay language and people, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
