Bayali language

For the place in Queensland, see Byellee, Queensland.
For the dialect of Biri also known as Bayali, see Yetimarla language.
Bayali
Native toAustralia
RegionQueensland
Extinct(date missing)
Revival2017
Language codes
ISO 639-3bjy
Glottologbaya1257
AIATSIS[1]E42

Bayali (also spelt Biyali, Baiali, Byelle, Byellee, and also known as Orambul or Urambal) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of Queensland in Australia, spoken in the Rockhampton and Gladstone areas, but a project is under way to revive the language.

Classification

Bayali belongs to the Pama–Nyungan language family.[2] It has been classified together with Darumbal as a Kingkel language,[3]: xxxiv  but the two are not close, and Bowern (2011)[4] reclassified Darumbal as a Maric language.

Traditional lands of Aboriginal people around Mackay, Rockhampton and Gladstone Queensland

Language revival

Since 2017, the Central Queensland Language Centre has been working on helping to restore three languages from the region – Yiiman, Byelle and Taribelang (also known as Gureng Gureng).[5] As of 2020, Bayali (spelt Bayelle) is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".[6]

Some words from the Bayali language, as spelt and written by Bayali authors include:[7]

  • Girra: fire
  • Gula: koala
  • Guruman: kangaroo
  • Kobbera: head

References

  1. ^ E42 Bayali at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2022). "Bayali". Glottolog 4.6. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  3. ^ Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: their nature and development. Cambridge University Press.
  4. ^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
  5. ^ Wang, Amy Chien-Yu; Apostolou, Panos (2 July 2017). "Indigenous languages at risk". SBS Greek. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Priority Languages Support Project". First Languages Australia. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  7. ^ This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Bayali published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 3 June 2022.


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