Pitta Pitta (also known under several other spellings) is an
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 ...
. It was spoken around
Boulia, Queensland
Boulia () is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland, Australia. In the , Boulia had a population of 301 people.
Boulia is the administrative centre of the Boulia Shire, population approximately 600, which covers an ar ...
.
Pituri
The name ''
pituri
Pituri, also known as mingkulpa, is a mixture of leaves and wood ash traditionally chewed as a stimulant (or, after extended use, a depressant) by Aboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered from any of several specie ...
'' for the leaves chewed as a stimulant by traditional Aboriginal people has been claimed to be derived from the Pitta Pitta word '. though Walter Roth pointed out in 1897 that the word 'pituri', thus pronounced, was the term used by the neighbouring
Yurlayurlanya
The Yurlayurlanya, formerly spelt ''Ulaolinya'', were an Indigenous Australian tribe living in the Glenormiston region of South West Queensland.
Language
The Yurlayurlanya language is classified by Gavan Breen as one of the Palku subgroup of t ...
people, and added that the Pitta Pitta people called it "''tarembola''".
Status
In 1979, Barry J. Blake reported that Pitta Pitta was "virtually extinct", with only three speakers remaining – Ivy Nardoo of Boulia, Ted Marshall and Linda Craigie of
Mount Isa
Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, b ...
.
It is now considered unlikely that any speakers remain.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
Sign language
The Pitta Pitta had well-developed a
signed form of their language.
References
*Blake, Barry J. (1979). Pitta-Pitta. In R.M.W. Dixon and Barry Blake (eds.), ''Handbook of Australian Languages, Vol. 1''. 183–244. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
*
* Roth, Walter E. (1897). ''The expression of ideas by manual signs: a sign-language.'' (p. 273–301) Reprinted from Roth, W.E. ''Ethnological studies among the North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines''. London, Queensland Agent-Generals Information Office, 1897; 71–90; Information collected from the following tribes; Pitta-Pitta, Boinji, Ulaolinya, Wonkajera, Walookera, Undekerebina, Kalkadoon, Mitakoodi, Woonamurra, Goa. Reprinted (1978) in ''Aboriginal sign languages of the Americas and Australia.'' New York: Plenum Press, vol. 2.
External links
Bibliography of Pitta Pitta people and language resources at the
Karnic languages
Extinct languages of Queensland
Extinct sign languages
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