Ayabadhu
Native toAustralia
RegionCape York Peninsula, Queensland; north of Coleman River, south of Coen.
EthnicityAyapathu, Yintyingka
Extinct(date missing)
Language codes
ISO 639-3ayd
Glottologayab1239
AIATSIS[1]Y60
ELPAyapathu

Ayabadhu (Ayapathu), or Badhu, is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of the Paman family spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of North Queensland, Australia by the Ayapathu people.[1][2]: 17  The Ayabadhu language region includes the Cook Shire and the areas around Coen and Port Stewart.[3]

Verstraete and Rigsby (2015) determined that Ayabadhu and Yintyingka, spoken by the Yintyingka and Lamalama and previously known as coastal Ayapathu, are closely related and dialects of the same language.[2]: 51  They also found these dialects to be "structurally different" to Western Ayapathu.[4] The name Yintjinggu/Jintjingga has been used for both Ayabadhu and the neighboring Umbindhamu language.[1][5]

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a

Consonants

Peripheral Laminal Apical Glottal
Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar
Plosive p k c t ʔ
Nasal m ŋ ɲ n
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant w j ɹ
  • Consonants may show gemination [Cː] when in intervocalic position after a stressed initial-syllable with a short vowel.
  • Voicing among stops may be heard as [b, ɡ, d̪, ɟ, d] when following nasal sounds, or within the onset of a third syllable in trisyllablic words.
  • /t/ may also have a trilled allophone [tʳ] within the onset of a second syllable.
  • /w/ may also be heard as a fricative [β] or an approximant [β̞] within intervocalic positions.[6]

Vocabulary

Some words from the Ayabadhu language, as spelt and written by Ayabadhu authors include:[3]

  • 'Agu: land
  • 'Eka: head
  • Kaleny: uncle
  • Kangka: leaf
  • Ko'on: magpie goose
  • Kuche: two
  • Mayi: food
  • Punga: sun
  • Wanthi punga: good day

References

  1. ^ a b c Y60 Ayabadhu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ^ a b Verstraete, Jean-Christophe; Rigsby, Bruce (2015). A Grammar and Lexicon of Yintyingka. Walter de Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9781614519003. ISBN 978-1-5015-0071-8.
  3. ^ a b This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Ayabadhu published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 3 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Y236: Yintyingka". Australian Indigenous Languages Database. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Y50: Umpithamu". Australian Indigenous Languages Database. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  6. ^ Verstraete, Jean-Christophe; Rigsby, Bruce (2015). A Grammar and Lexicon of Yintyingka. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.