Arabana or Arabuna is an
Australian Aboriginal language
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
of the
Pama–Nyungan family, spoken by the
Wongkanguru
The Wangkangurru, also written Wongkanguru and Wangkanguru, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Simpson Desert area in the state of South Australia. They also refer to themselves as Nharla.
Country
Norman Tindale estimated their tribal sw ...
and
Arabana people.
The language is in steep decline, with an estimated 250 speakers according to 2004 NILS, to just 21 speakers found in the 2006 census.
Geographic distribution
Arabana is spoken at Neales River
The Neales River is a watercourse located in the Far North region of the Australian state of South Australia.
The river is a tributary of Lake Eyre. The Central Australia Railway, on which The Ghan passenger train operated until 1980, cro ...
on the west side of Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains ...
west to the Stuart Range
The Stuart Range is a mountain range in central Washington (state), Washington, United States. The range lies within the eastern extent of the Cascade Range immediately southwest of Leavenworth, Washington, Leavenworth and runs east–west. The ...
; Macumba Creek south to Coward Springs
Coward Springs is a former railway station of the Central Australia Railway and associated settlement in the Far North region of South Australia, west of Lake Eyre South.
The name refers to a nearby mound spring, situated on the Oodnadatta T ...
; at Oodnadatta, Lora Creek
Lora is a female given name and family name in the Spanish language of French origin meaning from Lorraine, a region in Northeastern France.
As a given name, Lora may also be a variant of Laura or derived from an Italian hypocoristic of either El ...
, Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, and The Peake
The Peake is an abandoned ruin on the banks of the Neales River in far north South Australia, near the mound springs complex known as Freeling Springs. The Peake was established initially as an outstation on the Mount Margaret Station, before b ...
. Their boundary with the Kokatha People
The Kokatha, also known as the Kokatha Mula, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. They speak the Kokatha language, close to or a dialect of the Western Desert language.
Country
Traditional Kokatha lands extend o ...
to their west is marked by the margin of the scarp of the western tableland near Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy () is a town in northern South Australia, north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Ped ...
.[
]
Dialects
Arabana has three dialects: Piltapalta, which Hercus refers to as "Arabana Proper", Wangkakupa, and Midhaliri.[ Wangganguru was also considered a dialect.
]
Phonology
Most of the nasals and laterals are allophonically prestopped.[Jeff Mielke, 2008. ''The emergence of distinctive features'', p 135]
Arabana uses the three vowel sounds, /a/, /i/, and /u/, as typically used in other Aboriginal Australian languages.
Bibliography
# Hercus, Luise. 1994. A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia: Pacific Linguistics C128. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
References
External links
Arabana Aboriginal Corporation
representing Traditional Owners of Arabana Country
* Bibliographies o
publishedrare
o
special
materials on Arabana language and people, at the
Karnic languages
Critically endangered languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in South Australia
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