Dyirbal is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in northeast Queensland by the Dyirbal people. In 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that there were 8 speakers of the language. It is a member of the small Dyirbalic branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. It possesses many outstanding features that have made it well known among linguists.
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 up to possibly 363. The Indigenous languages of Australia comprise numerous language families and isolates, perhaps as many as 13, spoken by the Indigenous peoples of mainland Australia and a few nearby islands. The relationships between the language families are not clear at present although there are proposals to link some into larger groupings. Despite this uncertainty, the Indigenous Australian languages are collectively covered by the technical term "Australian languages", or the "Australian family".
Guugu Yimithirr, also rendered Guugu Yimidhirr, Guguyimidjir, and many other spellings, is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Guugu Yimithirr people of Far North Queensland. It belongs to the Pama-Nyungan language family. Most of the speakers today live at the community of Hope Vale, about 46 kilometres (29 mi) from Cooktown. However, as of June 2020 only about half of the Guugu Yimithirr nation speak the language. As such, efforts are being made to teach it to children. Guugu Yimithirr is the source language of the word kangaroo.
Robert Malcolm Ward "Bob" Dixon is a Professor of Linguistics in the College of Arts, Society, and Education and The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Queensland. He is also Deputy Director of The Language and Culture Research Centre at JCU. Doctor of Letters, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa by JCU in 2018. Fellow of British Academy; Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and Honorary member of the Linguistic Society of America, he is one of three living linguists to be specifically mentioned in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics by Peter Matthews (2014).
Yidiny is a nearly extinct Australian Aboriginal language, spoken by the Yidinji people of north-east Queensland. Its traditional language region is within the local government areas of Cairns Region and Tablelands Region, in such localities as Cairns, Gordonvale, and the Mulgrave River, and the southern part of the Atherton Tableland including Atherton and Kairi.
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf Country. The waters of Torres Strait include the only international border in the area contiguous with the Australian mainland, between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Djabugay is an endangered Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Djabugay people with 46 native speakers at the 2016 census. The Djabugay language region includes Far North Queensland, particularly around the Kuranda Range and Barron River catchment, and the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cairns Regional Council.
Meriam or the Eastern Torres Strait language is the language of the people of the small islands of Mer, Waier and Dauar, Erub, and Ugar in the eastern Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. In the Western Torres Strait language, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, it is called Mœyam or Mœyamau Ya. It is the only Papuan language in Australian territory.
Kalkatungu is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language formerly spoken around the area of Mount Isa and Cloncurry, Queensland.
The Paman languages are an Australian language family spoken on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. First noted by Kenneth Hale, Paman is noteworthy for the profound phonological changes which have affected some of its descendants.
The Shire of Cook is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.
The Kuku Nyungkal dialect is an Australian Aboriginal language and the language of the Kuku Nyungkal people of Far North Queensland. It is a variety of Kuku Yalanji still being spoken. Most of the speakers today live in the communities of Wujal Wujal and Mossman.
The Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is managed as a Deed of Grant in Trust under the Local Government Act 2004.
Mbariman-Gudhinma, one of several languages labelled Gugu Warra 'unintelligible speech' as opposed to Gugu Mini 'intelligible speech', is an extinct dialect cluster of Aboriginal Australian languages of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, Australia. Another one in the group is Wurangung, also known as Yadaneru or Jeteneru.
Guugu Yalandji, also spelt Kuku-Yalanji, is an Australian Aboriginal language of Queensland. It is the traditional language of the Kuku Yalanji people.
Warrgamay is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of northeast Queensland. It was closely related to Dyirbal.
Wamin, also known as Agwamin or Ewamian, is an Australian Aboriginal language of North Queensland spoken by the Ewamian people. Wamin was traditionally spoken in the Etheridge region, in the areas around Einasliegh, Georgetown, and Mount Surprise.
The Yidiny, are an Aboriginal Australian people in Far North Queensland. Their language is the Yidiny language.
Mbabaram or Mbabaɽam, often referred to as the Barbaram people, are an Indigenous Australian people living in Queensland in the rainforests of the Atherton Tableland.
The Wakaman people, also spelt Wagaman, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland. According to some authorities, they may be interchangeable with the group identified by ethnographers as the Agwamin.
