Pakanha (Bakanha), or Ayabakan, is a nearly

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Paman language spoken on the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

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_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In 1981, there were 10 speakers of the language, originally spoken by the aboriginal

Pakanha people The Ajabakan were an indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland. Country The Ajabakan's lands extended over around the Edward River (Queensland), Upper Edward River. Ursula McConnel in the late twenties identified mem ...

in the central part of the Cape York Peninsula.

Phonology

Vowels

Pakanha has 5

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...

qualities:

Consonants

Pakanha has 15

consonants In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...

Vocabulary/Topical Index

The following is a sample of words from a comparative wordlist/topical index produced by Philip Hamilton. The Pakanha words are accompanied by corresponding words from the distantly related Uw Olkola and

Uw Oykangand The Uw Oykangand, otherwise known as the Kwantari, are an Aboriginal Australian people living on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, in the state of Queensland in Australia. Their neighbours to the northwest are the Yir-Yoront peo ...

languages: (P) = Pakanha, (Olk) = Uw Olkola, (Oyk) = Uw Oykangand. The Body: * Body ** (P) ** (Olk, Oyk) ** (Olk) * Head ** (P) ** (Olk) ** (Oyk) * Fontanel ** (P) ** (Olk) ** (Oyk) * Skull ** (P) ** (Olk) ** (Oyk)

In popular culture

The Pakanha word for the eastern grey kangaroo, , was used as the name of a tribe on the second season of the American reality television series, Survivor in 2001.

References

{{Pama–Nyungan languages, Paman Wik languages Extinct languages of Queensland