Yir-Yoront language

Last updated

Yir-Yoront
Yir
Native to Australia
Region Cape York Peninsula, Queensland
Ethnicity Yir-Yoront
Extinct by 2005 [1]
Pama–Nyungan
Dialects
Yir Yoront Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
yyr   Yir Yoront
yrm   Yirrk-Mel
Glottolog yiry1247
yiry1245   bookkeeping with bibliography
AIATSIS [1] Y72  Yir Yoront, Y214  Yirrk-Thangalkl
ELP Yir-Yoront
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Yir-Yoront was a Paman language spoken in two settlements, Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, by the Yir-Yoront people. In 1991 only 15 speakers remained, [2] with the rest of the Yir-Yoront people speaking English or even Kuuk Thaayorre as many speakers of Yir-Yoront apparently are using Kuuk Thaayorre in daily conversation. [3] At present it is thought to be extinct. [4] There are two sister dialects, Yir-Yoront proper and Yirrk-Thangalkl, which are very close. The shared name Yir is sometimes used for both taken together.

Contents

Names

The first part of both of the name, Yir, is from the word yirrq meaning speech or language. Following is the ethnonym. [5]

Yir-Yoront is written hyphenated as a way of indicating that the syllable following the hyphen is stressed. In the standard orthography, it is correctly spelled Yirr-Yorront, with "rr" representing the consonant /r/. There is a valid alternative pronunciation with stress on the first syllable; this can be written YirrqYorront. Other spellings encountered include Yir Yoront and Jir Joront.

Other names for the language include:

Phonology

The following description is for Yir-Yoront proper. For another dialect, see Yirrk-Thangalkl dialect.

Vowels

Yir-Yoront has 6 vowels:

Front Central Back
UnroundedUnroundedRounded
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Mid ə
Open a

Consonants

Yir-Yoront has 20 consonants:

Peripheral Laminal Apical Glottal
Bilabial Velar Postalveolar
/Palatal
Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Nasal m m ŋ ng ɲ ny nh n n ɳ rn
Plosive p p k k c ch th t t ʈ rt ʔ q
Tap ɾ rr
Lateral lh l l ɭ rl
Approximant w w j y ɻ r

Sign language

The Yir Yoront have (or had) a well-developed signed form of their language. [6] It may have had some influence in the broader Far North Queensland Indigenous Sign Language, though it may have gone extinct too early for that.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pormpuraaw, Queensland</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw</span> Local government area in Queensland, Australia

The Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw is a special local government area which is located on western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the Local Government Act 2004.

Kuuk Thaayorre (Thayore) is a Paman language spoken in the settlement Pormpuraaw on the western part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia by the Thaayorre people. As of 2006, 250 of the 350 ethnic Thaayorre spoke the language. It is in a robust position compared to many indigenous Australian languages, as it is still being acquired by children and used in daily interaction.

Yirrk-Thangalkl is a dialect of Yir-Yoront, a Paman language spoken on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, by the Yirrk-Thangalkl people. The language is also known as Yirr-Thangell and Yirrk-Mel.

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The Yir-Yoront, also known as the Yir Yiront, are an Indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula now living mostly in Kowanyama but also in Lirrqar/Pormpuraaw, both towns outside their traditional lands.

The Thaayorre, or Kuuk Thaayore, are an Australian people living on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, primarily in the settlement Pormpuraaw, having its foundation in the Edward River Mission.

The Uw Oykangand, otherwise known as the Kwantari, are an Aboriginal Australian people living on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, in the state of Queensland in Australia. Their neighbours to the northwest are the Yir-Yoront people. Their traditional lands are around the Alice River and the Crosbie River, and further west around the Mitchell River and into Gulf Country.

Kuuk Yak, or the snake language, if translated literally, is an extinct Paman language which was spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia.

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Kaytetye is an Australian Aboriginal language primarily spoken in the Northern Territory north of Alice Springs by the Kaytetye people, who live around Barrow Creek and Tennant Creek. It belongs to the Arandic subgroup of the Pama-Nyungan languages and is related to Alyawarra, which is one of the Upper Arrernte dialects. It has an unusual phonology and there are no known dialects.

Ayabadhu (Ayapathu), or Badhu, is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of the Paman family spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of North Queensland, Australia by the Ayapathu people. The Ayabadhu language region includes the Cook Shire and the areas around Coen and Port Stewart.

The Kokangol (Koko-Gol), or Yuwula, are said to have been an Indigenous Australian people of Queensland. Some dispute this, suggesting the name may be a synonym for Aghu Tharnggala, or may simply be the name of a language consultant.

The Ajabakan were an indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Y72 Yir Yoront at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies   (see the info box for additional links)
  2. Ethnologue
  3. Gaby, Alice Rose (2006). A Grammar of Kuuk Thaayorre. p. 6.
  4. Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version: http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
  5. Alpher, Barry (1991). Yir-Yoront Lexicon: Sketch and Dictionary of an Australian Language. p. 3.
  6. Kendon, A. (1988) Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

General

Alpher, Barry (1991). Yir-Yoront lexicon: Sketch and dictionary of an Australian language. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.