The Paakantyi language, also spelt Paakantji, Barkindji, Barkandji, and Baagandji, and also known as the Darling language, is a nearly extinct
Australian Aboriginal language spoken along the
Darling River in
New South Wales from present-day
Bourke to
Wentworth and including much of the back country around the
Paroo River and
Broken Hill
Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
. The people's and language name refers to the ''Paaka'' (Darling River) with the suffix ''-ntyi'' meaning "belonging to".
[Luise Hercus. ''Baagandji Grammar'', ]ANU
Anu ( akk, , from wikt:đ’€#Sumerian, đ’€ ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...
1960; ''Paakantyi Dictionary'' (published with the assistance of AIATSIS
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...
, 1993) The speakers of the language are known as the
Paakantyi
The Paakantyi, or Barkindji or Barkandji, are an Australian Aboriginal tribal group of the Darling River (known to them as the Baaka) basin in Far West New South Wales, Australia.
Name
The ethnonym Paakantyi means "River people", formed from ...
(or variant spelling).
The major work on the Paakantyi language has been that of linguist
Luise Hercus.
[Luise Hercus. ''Baagandji Grammar'', ]ANU
Anu ( akk, , from wikt:đ’€#Sumerian, đ’€ ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...
1960; ''Paakantyi Dictionary'' (published with the assistance of AIATSIS
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...
, 1993)
Dialects
Dialects of Paakantyi include Southern Paakantyi (Baagandji, Bagundji), Kurnu (Kula), Wilyakali (Wiljagali), and
Pantyikali-Wanyiwalku (Wanyuparlku, Bandjigali, Baarundji), Parrintyi (Barrindji), Marawara (Maraura). Bowern (2011) lists Gurnu/Guula as a separate language, though Hercus includes it because of its almost identical vocabulary. Dixon adds several other names, some perhaps synonyms;
Bulaali (Bulali) may have been an alternative name for Wilyakali, but also for a different language,
Maljangapa.
However; Tindale (1940) mapped the 'Rite of Circumcision' border around Wanyiwalku separating it from the rest of Paakantyi - Tindale instead groups Wanyiwalku together with Maljangapa, Wadikali & Karenggapa of the
Yarli language.
Current status
A 2012 report indicated that two people could speak the Darling language fluently, while in the 2021 census, 111 individuals indicated that Paakantyi was spoken at home.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
References
External links
Bibliography of Paakantyi language and people resources at the
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Paakantyi language, alphabet and pronunciation25 Paakantyi words every muurpa should know
{{Aboriginal South Australians
Pama–Nyungan languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in New South Wales
Critically endangered languages