Thawa is a nearly extinct
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
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
with only very few speakers including certain local
elders. It is sometimes classified with
Dyirringany as a dialect of
Southern Coastal Yuin
Tharawal, also spelt Thurawal and Dharawal, is a small family of extinct Australian Aboriginal languages once spoken along the South Coast of New South Wales.
Number of languages in the group
According to Bob Dixon (2002), four Tharawal la ...
, though it is not clear how close the two varieties actually were.
In 2015 local Yuin people collaborated with the Tathra Public School in
Tathra to create a new
app as a teaching aid for both Thawa and the
Dhurga language
The Dhurga language, also written Thurga, is an Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales. It is a language of the Yuin people, specifically the Wandandian and Walbunja groups, but there have been no fluent speakers officially recorded ...
, using old
audio recording
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...
s of
elders as well as documentation created by early explorers and settlers in the region. One of the major contributors to the project, Graham Moore, has also written an Aboriginal language book.
Notes
References
Tharawal languages
Extinct languages of New South Wales
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