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The Yuin–Kuric languages are a group of mainly extinct
Australian Aboriginal languages 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 ...
traditionally spoken in the south east of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. They belong in the Pama–Nyungan family.AIATSIS Language and Peoples Thesaurus
, accessed 23 Jan 2010.
These languages are divided into the Yuin, Kuri, and Yora groups, although exact classifications vary between researchers. Yuin–Kuric languages were spoken by the original inhabitants of what are now the cities of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
and
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
. The name of this grouping was coined by Wilhelm Schmidt in 1919, and it refers to the two groups which define the geographical extent of the subgroup. The labels of all three subgroups reflect the word for 'man' or 'Aboriginal person' in their respective included languages. The
koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...
is named from the word ''gula'' for the animal in the
Dharug language The Dharug language, also spelt Darug, Dharuk, and other variants, and also known as the Sydney language, Gadigal language ( Sydney city area), is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin–Kuric group that was traditionally spoken in th ...
, a Yuin–Kuri language within the Yora group, and the same word occurs in other Yuin–Kuri languages, such as Gundungurra, within the Yuin group. , Yuin is listed as one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the
Department of Communications and the Arts The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts was a Government department, department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for communications policy and programs and cultural affairs. In December 2019, prime mi ...
. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".


Languages

The constituent languages are groups are arranged from southwest to northeast:


Yuin group

The
Yuin The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, ...
(southern) group includes: * The extinctChristopher Moseley, ''Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages'', Routledge, 2007, .
Tharawal languages Tharawal, also spelt Thurawal and Dharawal, is a small family of mostly extinct Australian Aboriginal languages once spoken along the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales. Number of languages in the group According t ...
spoken along the South Coast of New South Wales, including Thawa, Dyirringany, Thurga, Tharawal, and possibly Gweagal. * Nyamudy language spoken by people around Canberra *
Ngarigo The Ngarigo people (also spelt Garego, Ngarego, Ngarago, Ngaragu, Ngarigu, Ngarrugu or Ngarroogoo) are Aboriginal Australian people of southeast New South Wales, whose traditional lands also extend around the present border with Victoria. They ...
(Ngarigu) spoken by the
Ngarigo people The Ngarigo people (also spelt Garego, Ngarego, Ngarago, Ngaragu, Ngarigu, Ngarrugu or Ngarroogoo) are Aboriginal Australian people of southeast New South Wales, whose traditional lands also extend around the present border with Victoria. They ...
*
Ngunnawal The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal–Gundungurra language, Ngunnawal and Gundungurr ...
, also known as Gundungurra (Gundungura, Gudungura, or Gandangara), spoken by the
Ngunnawal people The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal and Gundungurra are Australian Aboriginal languages from the Pama-Nyu ...
and
Gandangara people The Gandangara people, also spelled Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gundungurra and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Sh ...
in inland south-eastern
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
in the now Yass region.


Yora group

The Yora or Iyora (central) group is accepted by Dixon. *
Dharug The Dharug or Darug people, are a nation of Aboriginal Australian clans, who share ties of kinship, country and culture. In pre-colonial times, they lived as hunters in the region of current day Sydney. The Darug speak one of two dialects o ...
, an extinct language which attempts are being made to revive. *
Darkinjung The Darkinjung (not to be confused with the Darkinyung people further inland) are the Local Aboriginal Land Council in the Central Coast, New South Wales, area of Australia and a major landowner on the Central Coast, participating in formal join ...
, an extinct language. They were spoken in the region of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
.


Kuri group

The Kuri (northern) group has been reduced to its southernmost languages: *
Worimi languages Worimi is a small family of two to five mostly extinct Australian Aboriginal languages of New South Wales. * Awabakal, spoken around Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. Awabakal was studied by Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld from 1825 until his deat ...
:
Worimi The Worimi (also spelt Warrimay) people are Aboriginal Australians from the eastern Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. Before contact with settlers, their people extended from Port Stephens in the sou ...
(Worimi, Katthang, Birrpayi),
Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...
*
Dunghutti language Dhanggati (Dunghutti, Thangatti), previously known as Dyangadi (Djangadi), is the Australian Aboriginal language once spoken by the Djangadi of the Macleay Valley and surrounding high country of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales. Th ...
Languages once classified as Kuric include Yugambal, Yuggarabul (Yuggera), and Nganyaywana (Anaiwan) further north.


Comparison

Jeremy Steele's partial reconstruction of the Sydney languageJeremy Steele's Master of Arts thesis, 2005
/ref> includes a comparison of pronouns in several Yuin–Kuric languages. The following partial and simplified version shows some of the similarities and differences across the family:


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuin-Kuric languages Extinct languages of New South Wales