Yuin–Kuric languages

Yuin–Kuric
(geographic)
Geographic
distribution:
New South Wales, ACT, and SE Queensland, Australia
Linguistic classification:

Pama–Nyungan

  • Southeast
    • New South Wales
      • Yuin–Kuric
Subdivisions:
  • Yuin
  • Yora
  • Kuri
Glottolog: yuin1243[1]

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Yuin–Kuric languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan). From southwest to northeast, the three groups are Yuin, Yora, and Kuri.

The Yuin–Kuric languages are a family of mainly extinct indigenous Australian languages that existed in the south east of Australia.

They belong in the Pama–Nyungan family.[2] These languages are divided into the Yuin, Kuri, and Yora groups, although exact classifications vary between researchers. Yuin–Kuric languages were spoken by the original inhabitants of what are now the cities of Sydney and Canberra. Most are now extinct.

The koala is named from the word gula for the animal in Dharuk,[3] a Yuin–Kuri language within the Yora group, and the same word occurs in other Yuin–Kuri languages, such as Gundungurra,[4] within the Yuin group.

Languages

The constituent languages are groups are arranged from southeast to northwest:

Yuin group

The Yuin (southern) group includes:

Yora group

Approximate location for
some Yuin-Kuric languages
Yugambeh
Worimi
Awabakal
Yora
Ngarigo
Tharawal
The word "koala" is derived from "gula" in the Dharuk and Gundungurra languages

The Yora or Iyora (central) group is accepted by Dixon.[6]

They were spoken in the region of Sydney.

Kuri group

The Kuri (northern) group has been reduced to its southernmost languages:

Languages once classified as Kuric include Yugambal, Yuggarabul (Yuggera), and Nganyaywana (Anaiwan) further north.

Comparison

Jeremy Steele's partial reconstruction of the Sydney language[8] includes a comparison of pronouns in several Yuin–Kuric languages. The following partial and simplified version shows some of the similarities and differences across the family:

Language Group I You (singular) He We two (inclusive) We two (exclusive) We all (inclusive)
Gundungurra Yuin gula-ngGa, gula-nga gulandyi dhanaladhu gulanga gulangala(ng) gulanyan, gulambanya(n)
Tharawal Yuin ngayagang(ga) nyindigang namarang ngulgang ngangaling(ga) nyulgang(ga)
Awabakal Kuri ngaduwa nginduwa nyuwuwa bali balinuwa ngiyin
Darkinjung Yora ngaya nyindi, ngindi nuwa ngaliya ngungaliya ngiyang
Dharug Yora ngaya nyindi, ngindi nanu ngali

References

  1. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Yuin–Kuri". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  2. AIATSIS Language and Peoples Thesaurus, accessed 23 Jan 2010.
  3. Dixon, R.M.W.; Moore, Bruce; Ramson, W. S.; Thomas, Mandy (2006). Australian Aboriginal Words in English: Their Origin and Meaning (2nd ed.). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 64. ISBN 0-19-554073-5.
  4. Eugene Stockton, Blue Mountains Dreaming: The Aboriginal Heritage, Three Sisters Productions, 1993, p. 88, ISBN 0-646-14883-4.
  5. 1 2 3 Christopher Moseley, Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, Routledge, 2007, ISBN 0-7007-1197-X.
  6. Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. p. xxxv.
  7. See the William Dawes web site, accessed 23 Jan 2010.
  8. Jeremy Steele's Master of Arts thesis, 2005
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