Gaagudju (also spelt Gagadu, Gaguju, and Kakadu) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language formerly spoken in the environs of Kakadu National Park, in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
Gaagudju | |
---|---|
Region | Northern Territory |
Ethnicity | Gaagudju, Watta |
Extinct | May 2002, with the death of Big Bill Neidjie |
Macro-Gunwinyguan?
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | gbu |
Glottolog | gaga1251 |
AIATSIS[1] | N50 |
ELP | Gagudju |
Gaagudju | |
Explorer Baldwin Spencer incorrectly ascribed the name "Kakadu tribe" to all of the people living in the Alligator Rivers area,[2][3] but Gaagudju was confined to the plains South and East Alligator Rivers.[1]
The language is classed as extinct, since its last fluent speaker, Big Bill Neidjie, died on 23 May 2002;[4][5] AUSTLANG's sources recorded no speakers between 1975 and 2016.[1]
Gaagudju has traditionally been classified with the Gunwinyguan languages. However, in 1997 Nicholas Evans proposed an Arnhem Land family that includes Gaagudju.
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i iː | u uː |
Mid | e eː | o oː |
Low | a aː |
Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
Stop | p | k | c | t | ʈ |
Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n | ɳ |
Lateral | ʎ | l | 𝼈 | ||
Rhotic | r | ɻ | |||
Semivowel | w | j |
Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[6]
gloss | Gagadu |
---|---|
man | djereiŋi |
woman | djireːwan |
head | ŋaːṙi |
eye | bɔːrɔ |
nose | geːni |
mouth | djaːbul |
tongue | ŋaːndjil |
stomach | mabulu |
bone | benaːgăra |
blood | maneŋul |
kangaroo | baːgu |
opossum | mɔɳɔ |
emu | gabaṙɛːbi |
crow | mawaːga |
fly | ŋɔrmul |
sun | gobolbara |
moon | maɖba |
fire | gudjäli |
smoke | uŋari |
water | gaṙu |