The Murring–Kuric languages are a family of mainly extinct Australian Aboriginal languages that existed in the south east of Australia. 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 and Canberra. Most are now extinct. The

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the ...

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 Murring–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 department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for communications policy and programs and cultural affairs. In December 2019, prime minister Scott Morriso ...

. 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 Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, one or more of the Yuin language dialects. Sub-grou ...

(southern) group includes: * The extinctChristopher Moseley, ''Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages'', Routledge, 2007, . Tharawal languages 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. Lang ...

(Ngarigu) spoken by the Ngarigo people * Ngunnawal, also known as Gundungurra (Gundungura, Gudungura, or Gandangara), spoken by the Ngunnawal people and

Gandangara people The Gundungurra people, also spelt Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gandangara and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Shire ...

in inland south-eastern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in the now Yass region.

Yora group

The Yora or Iyora (central) group is accepted by Dixon. *

Dharug The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout muc ...

, 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.

Kuri group

The Kuri (northern) group has been reduced to its southernmost languages: * Worimi languages:

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 t ...

* Dunghutti language 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