Yugambeh–Bundjalung Languages
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Yugambeh–Bundjalung, also known as Bandjalangic, is a branch of the Pama–Nyungan language family, that is spoken in north-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 ...
and South-East Queensland. Yugambeh–Bundjalung was historically a dialect continuum consisting of a number of varieties, including Yugambeh, Nganduwal, Minjangbal, Njangbal (Nyangbal), Biriin, Baryulgil, Waalubal, Dinggabal, Wiyabal, Gidabal, Galibal, and Wudjeebal. Language varieties in the group vary in degree of mutual intelligibility, with varieties at different ends of the continuum being mostly unintelligible. These dialects formed four clusters: * Tweed-Albert language (Yugambeh) * Condamine-Upper Clarence (Githabul) * Lower Richmond (Eastern Bundjalung – Nyangbal, Minyangbal and Bandjalang proper) * Middle Clarence (Western Bundjalung) Bowern (2011) lists Yugambeh, Githabul, Minyangbal, and Bandjalang as separate ''Bandjalangic'' languages. All Yugambeh–Bundjalung languages are nearly extinct. Bandjalang proper has the greatest number of speakers: 113, while the other dialects have a total of 26 speakers. Gowar (Guwar) and Pimpama may be related to the Bandjalangic languages rather than to Durubalic.


Nomenclature

The Yugambeh–Bundjalung language chain is spoken by numerous social/cultural groups some of whom have historically preferred to identify with their particular dialect name, e.g. Githabul, Yugambeh, especially as some groups do not see particular varieties as being 'the same language'. W. E. Smythe, a doctor in Casino, knew the Bundjalung quite well noting in his time the language was spoken widely. He compiled a grammar of the Casino dialect in the 1940s, mistakenly believing he was writing a grammar for the whole language group. When speaking of the name of language he noted: 'For the linguistic group as a whole I have used the term 'Bandjalang', with which some may disagree. Among the people themselves there is a good deal of confusion. Some say the tribal name should be 'Beigal aygal (man, people), others that there never was any collective name, while others again state that 'Bandjalang', besides being the specific name of one of the local groups, was also in use as a covering term for all. For convenience I am doing the same.' Adding to the confusion is the use of multiple names by different groups, i.e. what one group calls another may not be what it calls itself, or the name of a dialect may change, e.g. Terry Crowley was originally told ''Wehlubal'' for the Baryulgil dialect, while a later researcher was given ''Wirribi.'' The earliest sources of anthropological work dated from the mid to late 1800s does not give a name for the entire language chain; however, it is clear from sources that particular writers were aware of it, in most instances referring to it by their local variety name or with a descriptor like 'this language with slight variation'. It was not until the early 1900s, with the advent of Aboriginal Protection Boards, that non-Indigenous sources begin overtly naming wider language groups; this, however, was at a detriment to local dialect and clan names that were subsumed under the board's chosen name. Yugambeh–Bundjalung's position at the Queensland–NSW border led to two standard terms: Yugambeh/Yugumbir on the Queensland side and Bundjalung/Bandjalang on the NSW side. It was for this reason that Margaret Sharpe named the chain Yugambeh–Bundjalung, the terms being the most northerly and southerly respectively as well. Modern Yugambeh–Bundjalung-speaking peoples are often aware of and use the overarching terms ''Yugambeh'' and ''Bundjalung'', some groups in conjunction with their own name e.g. Byron Bay Bundjalung – Arakwal. As these words also refer to individual dialects some groups object to their usage, Crowley and Sharpe both agree that Yugambeh referred to the Beaudesert dialect, also known by the clan name Mununjali, and Bundjalung originally referred to the Bungawalbin Creek/Coraki dialect, though the Tabulam people claim they are the original Bundjalung, and use Bandjalang in opposition.


Geographic distribution

Yugambeh-Bandjalang is spoken over a wide geographic area; the
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to the east and the Logan River catchment as the northern boundary, the Clarence River forming the south and south-western boundaries, and the Northern Tablelands marking the western boundary. Many of the dialects and branches are confined by natural features such as river basins, mountain ranges and dense bushland.


Dialects

''Yugambeh-Bundjalung'' or just ''Bundjalung'' is used as a cover term for the dialect chain as well as to refer to certain individual dialects. At the time of the first European settlement in the mid-1800s, the Yugambeh-Bundjalung peoples on the north coast of New South Wales and southeast of Queensland spoke up to twenty related dialects. Today only about nine remain. All were mutually intelligible with neighbouring dialects. The dialects form recognisable clusters that share phonological and morphological features, as well as having higher degrees of mutual intelligibility.


Clusters


Dialects


= Condamine – Upper Clarence

=


= Middle Clarence

=


= Lower Richmond

=


= Tweed–Albert

=


Dialectal differences

Until the 1970s all language and linguist work to date had been undertaken on individual varieties, with major grammar work undertaken on Githabul, Minyangbal, Yugambeh, and the Casino dialect. Terry Crowley was the first to publish a study of the wider Bandjalangic language group, titled 'The middle Clarence dialects of Bandjalang', it included previously unpublished research on the Casino dialect as an appendix. Crowley analysed not only the vocabulary but grammar of the varieties including comparative cognate figures and examples from various dialects.


Phonology


Vowel

Varieties of Yugambeh-Bundjalung may have a vowel system of either three or four vowels that also contrast in length, resulting in either six or eight
phonemic A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...
vowels in total. In practical orthography and some descriptions of the language, the letter is often used after the vowel to indicate a long vowel. Vowel alternations and are neutralised as before . The low central vowel can be fronted and raised following a
palatal consonant Palatals are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex. Characteris ...
, and backed following a
velar consonant Velar consonants are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (also known as the "velum"). Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relativel ...
. Unstressed short vowels can be reduced to the neutral central vowel schwa in a similar way to English.


Consonants

Yugambeh-Bundjalung has a smaller inventory of consonant phonemes than is typical of most Australian languages, having only four contrastive
places of articulation In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant is an approximate location along the vocal tract where its production occurs. It is a point where a constriction is made between an active and a pa ...
and only one
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and one rhotic phoneme. Obstruents Although the standard IPA symbols used in transcription of the language are the voiced stop symbols, these segments are better characterised as
obstruent An obstruent ( ) is a speech sound such as , , or that is formed by ''obstructing'' airflow. Obstruents contrast with sonorants, which have no such obstruction and so resonate. All obstruents are consonants, but sonorants include vowels as well ...
s because they are realised more often as
fricative A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in ...
s or
affricate An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pai ...
s than actual stops. There is no contrast in Yugambeh-Bundjalung between these
manners of articulation In articulatory phonetics, the manner of articulation is the configuration and interaction of the articulators (speech organs such as the tongue, lips, and palate) when making a speech sound. One parameter of manner is ''stricture,'' that is, h ...
. Yugambeh-Bundjalung varieties do not have voicing contrasts for their obstruent sequences, and so phonological literature varies in its representation of these consonants- some linguists have chosen the symbols /p/, /k/, /c/, /t/, and others have decided upon /b/, /g/, //, /d/. Generally, these consonants are phonetically voiceless, except when following a
homorganic In phonetics, a homorganic consonant (from Latin and ) is a consonant sound that is articulated in the same place of articulation as another. For example, , and are homorganic consonants of one another since they share the bilabial place of ...
nasal Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination: * With reference to the human nose: ** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery * ...
segment. Nasals When nasal stops occur syllable-finally, they are often produced with a stop onset as a free variant. Lateral The lateral phoneme can appear as a
flap Flap may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film * Flap, a boss character in the arcade game '' Gaiapolis'' * Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' Biology and h ...
rather than an
approximant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do prod ...
, and sometimes occurs prestopped as a free variant in the same way as nasals. Rhotic The rhotic phoneme has several surface realisations in Yugambeh-Bundjalung. Between vowels, it tends to be a
flap Flap may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film * Flap, a boss character in the arcade game '' Gaiapolis'' * Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' Biology and h ...
, although it can sometimes be an
approximant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do prod ...
, and it is usually a
trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is a networking protocol for optimizing bandwidth and resilience in Ethernet networks, implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and ...
at the end of syllables. Semi-vowels The existence of semi-vowels in Yugambeh-Bundjalung can be disputed, as in many Australian languages. Some linguists posit their existence in order to avoid an analysis that involves onset-less syllables, which are usually held to be non-existent in Australian languages. Some phonologists have found that semi-vowels can be replaced with
glottal stop The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...
s in some varieties of Yugambeh-Bundjalung.


Stress

Yugambeh-Bundjalung is a
stress-timed language Isochrony is a linguistic analysis or hypothesis assuming that any spoken language's utterances are divisible into equal rhythmic portions of some kind. Under this assumption, languages are proposed to broadly fall into one of two categories based ...
and is quantity-sensitive, with stress being assigned to syllables with long vowels. Short unstressed vowels tend to be reduced to the neutral vowel schwa.


Syllable structure

Like many Australian languages, Yugambeh-Bundjalung is thought to have a constraint that states that all syllables must have a consonant onset. Only vowels are permitted as the
syllable nucleus A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...
, and these may be long or short. Syllable codas are also permitted, with long or short vowels in the nucleus. However, long vowels are not permitted to occur in adjacent syllables.


Phonotactics

Consonant clusters Yugambeh-Bundjalung does not permit
clusters may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study the magnetosphere * Asteroid cluster, a small ...
of the same consonant, or clusters that begin with an obstruent phoneme or end with an approximant, except the labio-velar glide. All homorganic nasal-obstruent clusters occur in the language. Clusters usually only involve two segments, but clusters of three may occur if an intervening vowel is deleted by some process.


Vocabulary

Cognate comparison between the most southern and northern dialects, Bandjalang (Proper) and Yugambeh (Proper), shows 52% similarity. Cognate similarity is highest between dialects within branches, typically being ~80%, these percentages are even higher amongst the Tweed-Albert dialects at ~90%. Between branches of the family this rate falls to ~60–70% between neighbouring clusters.


Isogloss

Some vocabulary differences in common vocabulary are present: 'What/something' – in southern varieties contrasts with in northern varieties. (Both were used in the centrally located Lismore dialect). The northern Tweed-Albert language have for 'man' and for 'woman', compared to the use of and by other varieties respectively. The difference in words for men is significant as groups often use it for identification as well as a language name (''Mibinah'' = language lit. 'of man', ''Baygalnah'' = language lit. 'of man'). Another vocabulary isogloss is ('boy') and ('eye') used in all branches, except the Middle-Clarence language which uses and respectively.


Vowel shifts

A north to south shift of /a/ to /e/ (with an intermittent /i/ present in some varieties) in some common vocabulary. : 'Who': ''/'/'' : 'You': ''/'/'' A north to south shift of /i/ to /a/ (with an intermittent/e/ present in some varieties) occurring on the demonstrative set. : 'This': ''/'/'' : 'That': ''/'/'' A shift of /a/ to /u/ in the Tweed-Albert dialects. : 'No': ''/'' : 'Vegetable': ''/''


Grammar

Crowley's research found a number of grammar differences between the varieties and clusters. Further research by Dr. Margaret Sharpe detailed these finer differences.


Noun declensions

All varieties within the family use suffixes to decline nouns. Most are universal; however, there are a few poignant differences. A complex system exists whereby suffixes are categorised into orders, with the order and use governed by universal rules.


Locative

A past and non-past form of the locative exists in Githabul, Yugambeh and Minyangbal.


Abessive

The abessive is present in Yugambeh and Githabul, being used on nouns and verbs (use on verbs does not occur further south).


Gender

A system of marking four
grammatical gender In linguistics, a grammatical gender system is a specific form of a noun class system, where nouns are assigned to gender categories that are often not related to the real-world qualities of the entities denoted by those nouns. In languages wit ...
s (two animate – human and animal, and two inanimate – arboreal and neuter) with the use of suffixes is present in three of the clusters. The morphological forms and usage of these gender suffixes vary between the clusters, with some dialects marking both demonstratives and adjectives, others marking solely adjectives.


Verbal morphology

The extensive use of suffixes extends to verbs as well; the suffix system is the same throughout the language group with a few minor differences. The imminent aspect (used in other varieties for most instances that use the English future tense) has shifted in the Tweed-Albert Language to an irrealis mode, now denoting the potential mood, while the continuous aspect in conjunction with a time word is now used for future tense situations. Example of differences in -hny suffix usage: The purposive suffix is -yah in the Tweed-Albert and Condamine-Upper Clarence languages, while it is -gu in the other two branches.


Vocabulary


See also

*
Bundjalung people The Bundjalung people, also spelled Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton, New South Wales, Grafton in northern coastal New South Wales to Beaudesert, Que ...
* Bundjalung Nation Timeline *
Dirawong In Australian Aboriginal mythology (specifically Bundjalung, from the northern New South Wales coast and South-East Queensland) Dirawong is a goanna Ancestral Being who taught humans how to live on the land, as well as important ceremonies a ...
*
List of Aboriginal languages of New South Wales Prior to colonisation in 1788, the Aboriginal Australians living in the areas now known as New South Wales spoke between 35 - 40 Australian Aboriginal languages, languages including between 70 - 100 dialects. Some of these languages are closely re ...


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * *


External links


Bibliography of Bundjalung language and people 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, ...

Bibliography of Arakwal language and people 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, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yugambeh-Bundjalung languages Bundjalung people Endangered indigenous Australian languages in New South Wales Severely endangered languages