Taribelang, also known as bunda, is a language of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. Although no longer spoken as a native language by the

Taribelang The Taribelang are an Aboriginal Australian people of central Queensland. Country The Taribelang lived on of territory around Bundaberg, and inland to near Walla, and north as far as Baffle Creek. Their territory also extended along the lower ...

or Bunda people, it is spoken as a 2nd or 3rd language by under 100. There exists some confusion between Austlang's (

AIATSIS 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, ...

) E33: Taribelang and E36: Goeng Goeng languages.

Accent

Today some speakers have a "heavier" more guttural way of speaking, e.g. rolling the tongue when pronouncing the "rr's", starting words with Ng rather than a single N and also heavier speakers sound out a "dj" sound rather than "ch" or "t". "Heavier" speakers tend to be the more western groups from along the Burnett River of Queensland. The more coastal families today seem to have a "lighter" way of speaking (less guttural & not rolling the tongue and using the single N at the start of words rather than the Ng & using "ch" & "t" rather than "dj" etc.) which is most likely the result of the influence of the English language in recent times. Map of Traditional Lands of Australian Aboriginal peoples in SE Qld

Map of Traditional Lands of Australian Aboriginal peoples in SE Qld

Language revival

Since 2017, the Central Queensland Language Centre has been working on helping to restore three languages from the region – Yiiman, Byelle (Biyali) and Taribelang. , Taribelang is 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 department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for communications policy and programs and cultural affairs. In December 2019, prime minister Scott Morrison ...

. 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".

References

External links

Bibliography of Gureng Gureng people and language resources
at the

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies 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, ...

Waka–Kabic languages Extinct languages of Queensland {{ia-lang-stub