Gamilaraay language

Gamilaraay
Darling tributaries
Native to	Australia
Region	Central northern New South Wales
Ethnicity	Gamilaraay, Ualarai, Kawambarai
Extinct	"recently extinct" as of 2007
Revival	105 claim to speak Gamilaraay, 1% of total population (2016 census)
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Wiradhuric Gamilaraay
Dialects	Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay Yuwaaliyaay (Euahlayi) Gunjbaraay Gawambaraay Wirray Wirray (Wiriwiri) Walaraay
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kld
Glottolog	gami1243
AIATSIS	D23
ELP	Gamilaraay
A map of the tribes of New South Wales, published in 1892. Gamilaraay is marked I.

The Gamilaraay or Kamilaroi (see below for other spellings) language is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup found mostly in south-east Australia. It was the traditional language of the Gamilaraay, but is now endangered—according to Ethnologue, only 35 speakers were left in 2006, all mixing Gamilaraay and English. However, thousands of Australians of mixed descent identify as Gamilaraay. The Gamilaraay language is also taught in some Australian schools.

Name

The name Gamilaraay means gamil-having, with gamil being the word for "no". Other dialects and languages are similarly named after their respective words for "no". (Compare the division between langues d'oïl and langues d'oc in France, distinguished by their respective words for "yes".)

Spellings of the name, pronounced [ɡ̊aˌmilaˈɻaːj] in the language itself, include:

• Goomeroi
• Kamilaroi
• Gamilaraay
• Gamilaroi

Geographic distribution

Dialects

• Yuwaalaraay
• Yuwaaliyaay (Euahlayi)
• Gunjbaraay
• Gawambaraay
• Wirray Wirray (Wiriwiri)
• Walaraay

History

Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Sydney, New South Wales

Southern Aboriginal guides led the surveyor John Howe to the upper Hunter River above present-day Singleton in 1819. They told him that the country there was "Coomery Roy [=Gamilaraay] and more further a great way", meaning to the north-west, over the Liverpool Ranges (see O'Rourke 1997: 29). This is probably the first record of the name.

A basic wordlist collected by Thomas Mitchell in February, 1832, is the earliest written record of Gamilaraay.

Presbyterian missionary William Ridley studied the language from 1852 to 1856.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i ⟨i⟩, iː ⟨ii⟩	u ⟨u⟩, uː ⟨uu⟩
Low	a ⟨a⟩, aː ⟨aa⟩

/wa/ is realized as [wo].

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
	Bilabial	Velar	Palatal	Dental	Alveolar	Post- alveolar
Stop	b	ɡ	ɟ ⟨dj⟩	d̪ ⟨dh⟩	d
Nasal	m	ŋ ⟨ng⟩	ɲ ⟨ny⟩	n̪ ⟨nh⟩	n
Lateral					l
Rhotic					r ⟨rr⟩	ɻ ⟨r⟩
Semivowel	w		j ⟨y⟩

Initially, /wu/ and /ji/ may be simplified to [u] and [i].

Stress

All long vowels in a word get equal stress. If no long vowels are present, stress falls on the first syllable. Secondary stress falls on short vowels, which are two syllables to the right or to the left of a stressed syllable.

Grammar

Pronouns

Gawambaraay Dialect

Subject pronouns:

	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	ngaya	ngali	ngiyaani
2nd person	ngindu	ngindaali	ngindaay
3rd person	nguru	(nguru)gali	ganu

Gamilaraay words in English

Several loanwords have entered Australian English from Gamilaraay, including:

Common nouns
Anglicised form	Gamilaraay	Meaning
bindi-eye, bindii, bindies	bindayaa	The burrs of several plant species (Emex australis, Tribulus terrestris, and Soliva sessilis) that stick in one's feet
brolga	burralga	A bird species, Grus rubicunda
possibly budgerigar	gidjirrigaa	A bird species, Melopsittacus undulatus
galah	gilaa	A bird species, Eolophus roseicapilla
yarran	yarraan	A species of acacia tree, Acacia homalophylla
Proper nouns
Anglicised form	Gamilaraay	Meaning
Kamilaroi	gamilaraay	The Gamilaraay people or language
Place names
Anglicised form	Gamilaraay	Meaning
Boggabri	bagaaybaraay	having creeks
Boggabilla	bagaaybila	full of creeks
Collarenebri	galariinbaraay	having acacia blossoms
	Tingha	tingaa	flat, level ground} References Bibliography Austin, Peter (1993). A Reference Dictionary of Gamilaraay, northern New South Wales. La Trobe University. Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47378-0. Mathews, R. H. (Jul–Dec 1903). "Languages of the Kamilaroi and Other Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales" (PDF). The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 33. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 33: 259–283. doi:10.2307/2842812. JSTOR 2842812. O'Rourke, Michael. "The Kamilaroi Lands. Canberra, 1997". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Ridley, William (1856). "On the Kamilaroi Tribe of Australians and Their Dialect". Journal of the Ethnological Society of London. 4. Journal of the Ethnological Society of London (1848-1856), Vol. 4: 285–293. doi:10.2307/3014109. JSTOR 3014109. Further reading Ash, Anna et al. Gamilaraay, Yuwaaaraay and Yuwaalayaay Dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press 2003. Parker, K. Langloh (1905). The Euahlayi Tribe: A Study of Aboriginal Life in Australia . London: Archibald Constable and Company. Ridley, William (1855). "On the Kamilaroi Language of Australia". Transactions of the Philological Society. 2 (6): 72–84. doi:10.1111/j.1467-968X.1855.tb00794.x. External links http://yuwaalaraay.org/ has information about recent Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay language development and links to numerous language resources. The Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) Language, northern New South Wales — A Brief History of Research (PDF) Gutenberg Project Browse By Language: Gamilaraay Online dictionary Gamilaraay Online dictionary by Peter Austin and David Nathan A Reference Grammar of Gamilaraay Bibliographies of published, rare or special materials on Gamilaraay language and people, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Bibliographies of published, rare or special materials on Yuwaalaraay language and people, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies