Gaagudju (also spelt Gagadu, Gaguju, and Kakadu) 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 ...
spoken in the environs of
Kakadu National Park
Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded liv ...
, in
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
,
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
, Australia.
Country and status
Explorer
Baldwin Spencer incorrectly ascribed the name "Kakadu tribe" to all of the people living in the
Alligator Rivers
Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia, ...
area,
but Gaagudju was confined to the plains South and East Alligator Rivers.
[
The language is classed as ]extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
, since its last fluent speaker, Big Bill Neidjie
Big Bill Neidjie ( – 23 May 2002), nicknamed "Kakadu Man", was the last surviving speaker of the Gaagudju language, an Aboriginal Australian language from northern Kakadu, after which Kakadu National Park is named. He was an elder of the Ga ...
, died on 23 May 2002; AUSTLANG
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, ...
's sources recorded no speakers between 1975 and 2016.[
]
Classification
Gaagudju has traditionally been classified with the Gunwinyguan languages
The Gunwinyguan languages (Gunwinjguan, Gunwingguan), also core Gunwinyguan or Gunwinyguan proper, are a possible branch of a large language family of Australian Aboriginal languages in Arnhem Land, northern Australia. The most populous language ...
. However, in 1997 Nicholas Evans
Nicholas Benbow Evans (26 July 1950 – 9 August 2022) was a British journalist, screenwriter, television and film producer and novelist.
Biography
Nicholas Benbow Evans was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, son of Anthony Evans, director of ...
proposed an Arnhem Land family that includes Gaagudju.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
Vocabulary
Capell
Capell or Capel is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Capell
* Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (1608–1649), English politician
* Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex (1631–1683), English statesman
* Arthur Capell (1902–1 ...
(1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[Capell, Arthur. 1941-1942, 1942-1943]
Languages of Arnhem Land, North Australia
''Oceania'' 12: 364-392, 13: 24-51.
:
References
*
External links
AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database
{{Authority control
Extinct languages of the Northern Territory
Macro-Gunwinyguan languages
Language isolates of Australia
Languages extinct in the 2000s