Yorta Yorta | |
---|---|
Yotayota Murray–Goulburn | |
Region | Victoria, Australia |
Ethnicity | Yorta Yorta (Pangerang, Kwatkwat) |
Extinct | by 1960 [1] |
Revival | 151 self-identified speakers (2021 census) [2] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xyy |
Glottolog | yort1237 |
AIATSIS [3] | D2 |
ELP | Yorta Yorta |
Yorta Yorta (Yotayota) is a dialect cluster, or perhaps a group of closely related languages, spoken by the Yorta Yorta people, Indigenous Australians from the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day northeast Victoria. Dixon considers it an isolate.
Yorta Yorta clans include the Bangerang, Kailtheban, Wollithiga, Moira, Penrith, Ulupna, Kwat Kwat and Nguaria-iiliam-wurrung. [4] The name is also spelled Jotijota, Jodajoda, Joti-jota, Yodayod, Yoda-Yoda, Yoorta, Yota, Yoti Yoti, Yotta-Yotta, Youta; other names are Arramouro, Boonegatha, Echuca, Gunbowerooranditchgoole, Gunbowers, Kwart Kwart, Unungun, Wol-lithiga ~ Woollathura.
The Yaliba Yaliba language of the Pikkolaatpan tribe is about 70% similar to the dialect of the Bangerang, suggesting they may be closely related languages rather than dialects.
Although the language is considered dormant due to contact with Europeans and forcible dislocation to missions, the Yorta Yorta have maintained many words. There have been strong moves of late to revive the language.
Two Yorta Yorta women, Lois Peeler and Sharon Atkinson, together with Dr Heather Bowe from Monash University, worked for several years to compile a comprehensive record of research material, entitled Yorta Yorta Language Heritage. This work provided a summary of existing written records, with reference to the spoken resources, and included introductory lessons in Yorta Yorta, together with English to Yorta Yorta and Yorta Yorta to English dictionaries.
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Retroflex | Velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | b | d̪ | d | ɟ | ( ɖ ) | ɡ |
Nasal | m | n̪ | n | ɲ | ( ɳ ) | ŋ |
Lateral | l | ( ʎ ) | ( ɭ ) | |||
Rhotic | ɾ ~ r | ( ɽ ) | ||||
Approximant | w | j |
A palatal lateral or the following retroflex consonants could have potentially been recorded. An alveolar rhotic sound could have been a trill or a flap. [1]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |
[e] is the rarest vowel. There are vowel-initial words Yorta-Yorta, due to the deletion of [j] or sometimes [ŋ] before [a], but not in Yabula-Yabula.
The track "Ngarra Burra Ferra" sung by indigenous artist Jessica Mauboy from the 2012 hit film The Sapphires is a song based on the traditional Aboriginal hymn "Bura Fera." [5] The song is in the Yorta Yorta language and speaks of the Lord God's help in decimating a Pharaoh's armies. The chorus, Ngara burra ferra yumini yala yala, translates into English as "The Lord God drowned all Pharaoh's armies, hallelujah!" These lyrics are based on an ancient song in Jewish tradition known as the "Song of the Sea" or "Miriam's Song", as it was composed and sung by Miriam, older sister of the prophet Moses. It can be found in Exodus 15, especially verse 4, "Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea." Aboriginal communities of Victoria and southern New South Wales may be the only people in the world who still sing the piece (in Yorta Yorta). [5]
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.
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Woiwurrung, Taungurung and Boonwurrung are Aboriginal languages of the Kulin nation of Central Victoria. Woiwurrung was spoken by the Woiwurrung and related peoples in the Yarra River basin, Taungurung by the Taungurung people north of the Great Dividing Range in the Goulburn River Valley around Mansfield, Benalla and Heathcote, and Boonwurrung by the six clans which comprised the Boonwurrung people along the coast from the Werribee River, across the Mornington Peninsula, Western Port Bay to Wilsons Promontory. They are often portrayed as distinct languages, but they were mutually intelligible. Ngurai-illamwurrung (Ngurraiillam) may have been a clan name, a dialect, or a closely related language.
The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales.
Bidjara, also spelt Bidyara or Pitjara, is an Australian Aboriginal language. In 1980, it was spoken by 20 elders in Queensland between the towns of Tambo and Augathella, or the Warrego and Langlo Rivers. There are many dialects of the language, including Gayiri and Gunggari. Some of them are being revitalised and are being taught in local schools in the region. The various dialects are not all confirmed or agreed by linguists.
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Manangkari, also known as Naragani, is an extinct Australian aboriginal language once spoken in the Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory. Manangkari belongs to the Iwaidjan family of languages, and may be a dialect of Maung.
Yabula-Yabula (Jabulajabula) in an extinct language of Australia, located in Victoria and New South Wales. Dixon listed it an isolate, but Glottolog evaluates it as a dialect of Yotayota. It shares only 44% of its vocabulary with Yorta Yorta, so is best considered a separate language. This may due to the rapid lexical change involved after a person's death, as their name cannot be uttered.
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Anaiwan (Anēwan) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales. Since 2017, there has been a revival program underway to bring the language back.
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Wergaia or Werrigia is an Australian Aboriginal language in the Wimmera region of north-Western Victoria. The Wergaia language consisted of four distinct dialects: Wudjubalug/Wotjobaluk, Djadjala/Djadjali, Buibadjali, Biwadjali. Wergaia was in turn apparently a dialect of the Wemba Wemba language, a member of the Kulinic branch of Pama–Nyungan.
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