Gugu Thaypan language

Kuku-Thaypan
Awu Alaya
Native toAustralia
RegionCape York Peninsula, Queensland
EthnicityKuku Thaypan, Gugu Rarmul
Extinct2016 (with the death of Tommy George)[1]
Dialects
  • Koko-Rarmul
Language codes
ISO 639-3typ
Glottologthay1248
AIATSIS[2]Y84 Kuku Thaypan, Y71 Gugu Rarmul
ELPAwu Laya
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Kuku-Thaypan is an extinct Paman language spoken on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, by the Kuku-Thaypan people. The language was sometimes called Alaya or Awu Alaya.[3] Koko-Rarmul may have been a dialect,[4] though Bowern (2012) lists Gugu-Rarmul and Kuku-Thaypan as separate languages.[5] The last native speaker, Tommy George, died on 29 July 2016 in Cooktown Hospital.[6]

Phonology

Vowels

Kuku-Thaypan has six vowels and two marginal vowels possibly only in loan words.[7]

Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Mid e o
(ɔ)
Open (æ) a
  • Sounds /æ/ and /ɔ/ are only marginal, as phonemes.
  • /e/ is heard as [ɛ] when after palatals and /j/.

Consonants

Kuku-Thaypan has 23 consonants.[7]

Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive voiceless p k t̪ c t
prenasal ᵐb ᵑɡ ⁿ̪d̪ ᶮɟ ⁿd
Fricative β ɣ ð
Nasal m ŋ n̪ ɲ n
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant w j ɻ
  • /r/ may be heard as a voiceless trill [r̥] when in initial position.
  • /r/ may freely be heard as a tap [ɾ] or trill [r].

References

  1. ^ A "legend", Indigenous Australian Leader, Knowledge Holder Tommy George Passes On.
  2. ^ Y84 Kuku Thaypan at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  3. ^ Jean-Christophe Verstraete, Diane Hafner, Land and Language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country (ISBN 902726760X, 2016)
  4. ^ RMW Dixon (2002), Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, p xxxii
  5. ^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
  6. ^ A "legend", Indigenous Australian Leader, Knowledge Holder Tommy George Passes On.
  7. ^ a b Rigsby, Bruce (1976). "Kuku-Thaypan descriptive and historical phonology". In Sutton, P. (ed.). Languages of Cape York. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. pp. 68–77.


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