The Dhurga language, also written Thurga, 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 ...

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 ...

. It is a language of the

Yuin people The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, one or more of the Yuin language dialects. Sub-groupi ...

, specifically the

Wandandian The Wandandian are an Aboriginal Australian people of the South Coast of New South Wales with connections to the Yuin and Tharawal nations. Country The Wandandian lands extended over an estimated from Ulladulla to the Shoalhaven River and N ...

and

Walbunja The Walbunja, also spelt Walbanga and Walbunga, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales, part of the Yuin nation. Language The Walbunja language may be a dialect of Dhurga. Country Walbunja Country covers a region from Cape Dro ...

groups, but there have been no fluent speakers officially recorded for decades, so it has been

functionally extinct Functional extinction is the extinction of a species or other taxon such that: #It disappears from the fossil record, or historic reports of its existence cease; #The reduced population no longer plays a significant role in ecosystem function; or ...

for some time. Efforts have been made to revive the language since the 2010s.

Description

The language is tonal, and spoken in the

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia ...

area southwards to

Narooma Narooma is a town in the Australian state of New South Wales on the far south coast. The town is on the Princes Highway, which crosses the Wagonga Inlet to North Narooma. The heritage town of Central Tilba is nearby to the south. The name Naro ...

, and possibly as far south as

Wallaga Lake Wallaga Lake is an estuarine lake in Bega Valley Shire in New South Wales, Australia, the largest lake in southern NSW. It is located between Bermagui to the south and between Tilba Tilba to the north, situated beneath Mount Gulaga, in the tra ...

. Dharumba and Walbanga/Walbjunja may have been dialects.

Status and revival

No speakers of the language have been officially recorded since before 1975. In 2015 local Yuin people collaborated with the Tathra Public School in Tathra to create a new app as a teaching aid for both Dhurga and the

Thaua language Thawa is a nearly extinct Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales with only very few speakers including certain local elders. It is sometimes classified with Dyirringany as a dialect of Southern Coastal Yuin, though it is not clear ...

, 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. Staff of Vincentia High School, led by Gary Worthy, have carried out research into Aboriginal languages and run community workshops since 2004, and a dedicated languages team teaches the Dhurga language. Bermagui Public School, a primary school in Bermagui, has taught local Aboriginal languages including Dhurga and the

Djiringanj language Dyirringañ, also spelt Dyirringany and Djiringanj, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin people of New South Wales. It is not listed in Bowern (2011), but the people are ethnically Yuin. The only attestation of the language are man ...

, along with the associated cultures, since 2019.

References

Tharawal languages Extinct languages of New South Wales {{ia-lang-stub