Summary
Yir-Yoront was a Paman language spoken in two settlements, Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, by the Yir-Yoront people. In 1991 only 15 speakers remained,[2] with the rest of the Yir-Yoront people speaking English or even Kuuk Thaayorre as many speakers of Yir-Yoront apparently are using Kuuk Thaayorre in daily conversation.[3] At present it is thought to be extinct.[4] There are two sister dialects, Yir-Yoront proper and Yirrk-Thangalkl, which are very close. The shared name Yir is sometimes used for both taken together.
| Yir-Yoront | |
|---|---|
| Yir | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Cape York Peninsula, Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Yir-Yoront |
| Extinct | by 2005[1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Yir Yoront Sign Language | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:yyr – Yir Yorontyrm – Yirrk-Mel |
| Glottolog | yiry1247yiry1245 bookkeeping with bibliography |
| AIATSIS[1] | Y72 Yir Yoront, Y214 Yirrk-Thangalkl |
| ELP | Yir-Yoront |
Names edit
The first part of both of the name, Yir, is from the word yirrq meaning speech or language. Following is the ethnonym.[5]
Yir-Yoront is written hyphenated as a way of indicating that the syllable following the hyphen is stressed. In the standard orthography, it is correctly spelled Yirr-Yorront, with "rr" representing the consonant /r/. There is a valid alternative pronunciation with stress on the first syllable; this can be written YirrqYorront. Other spellings encountered include Yir Yoront and Jir Joront.
Other names for the language include:
- Yirr-Thuchm: Meaning "from the sandridges"
- Kok-Minychen: The name of the Yir-Yoront in the Koko-Bera language
- Koko-Minychena: Alternative spelling
- Kokomindjen: Alternative spelling
- Mandjoen: Alternative spelling
- Mind'jana: Alternative spelling
- Mundjun: Alternative spelling
- Myunduno: Alternative spelling
- Kuuk-Thaanhon: The name of the Yir-Yoront in the Kuuk Thaayorre language
- Gwandera: A name incorrectly applied to the Yir-Yoront people and their language
- Millera: No source available
Phonology edit
The following description is for Yir-Yoront proper. For another dialect, see Yirrk-Thangalkl dialect.
Vowels edit
Yir-Yoront has 6 vowels:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Open | a |
Consonants edit
Yir-Yoront has 20 consonants:
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Postalveolar /Palatal |
Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | ||
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | ŋ ⟨ng⟩ | ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | n̪ ⟨nh⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ɳ ⟨rn⟩ | |
| Plosive | p ⟨p⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | c ⟨ch⟩ | t̪ ⟨th⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | ʈ ⟨rt⟩ | ʔ ⟨q⟩ |
| Tap | ɾ ⟨rr⟩ | ||||||
| Lateral | l̪ ⟨lh⟩ | l ⟨l⟩ | ɭ ⟨rl⟩ | ||||
| Approximant | w ⟨w⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | ɻ ⟨r⟩ | ||||
Sign language edit
The Yir Yoront have (or had) a well-developed signed form of their language.[6] It may have had some influence in the broader Far North Queensland Indigenous Sign Language, though it may have gone extinct too early for that.
External links edit
- Paradisec has language materials for Yir Yoront as part of the Arthur Capell collection (AC1) and the Barry Alpher collection (BA1)
References edit
Notes edit
- ^ a b Y72 Yir Yoront at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
- ^ Ethnologue
- ^ Gaby, Alice Rose (2006). A Grammar of Kuuk Thaayorre. p. 6.
- ^ Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version: http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
- ^ Alpher, Barry (1991). Yir-Yoront Lexicon: Sketch and Dictionary of an Australian Language. p. 3.
- ^ Kendon, A. (1988) Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
General edit
- Alpher, Barry (1991). Yir-Yoront lexicon: Sketch and dictionary of an Australian language. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.