Kurrama 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 ...

. It is a dialect of

Yindjibarndi The Yindjibarndi are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They form the majority of Aboriginal people around Roebourne (the Millstream area). Their traditional lands lie around the Fortescue River. Langua ...

, one of the

Ngayarda languages The Ngayarda (''Ngayarta'' /ŋajaʈa/) languages are a group of closely related languages in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The languages classified as members of the Ngayarda languages group are (following Bowern & Koch 2004): * Mart ...

of the large Pama–Nyungan family, with almost identical vocabulary and grammar, but speakers consider it to be a distinct language. The language name has also previously been written as: Kurama, Gurrama, Gurama (amongst others). While there is no official

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

for Kurrama the Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre uses the spelling "Kurrama" in all its publications. A number of linguists have carried out work on Kurrama however there is not yet a comprehensive grammatical description of the language. The Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre has an ongoing program of documentation of Pilbara languages, including Kurrama. The

Kurrama people The Kurrama people, also known as the Puutu Kunti Kurrama people, are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples, although of different language groups, are represe ...

associated with the language are an

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

group whose traditional lands are centred on the higher plateau regions of the

Hamersley Range The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range was named on 12 June 1861 by explorer Francis Thomas Gregory after Edward Hamersley (senior), Edward Hamersley, a prominent promoter of his explo ...

References

External links

''Kurrama'' from on-line version of the 'Handbook of Western Aboriginal Languages South of the Kimberley'
Ngayarda languages Endangered indigenous Australian languages in Western Australia {{ia-lang-stub