Gubbi Gubbi language
| Gubbi Gubbi | |
|---|---|
| Kabi Kabi, Kabi | |
| Region | Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Kabi Kabi (Kabi), Butchulla (incl. Ngulungbara) |
Native speakers | 24 (2016 census, Batjala dialect)[1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Official status | |
Official language in | Aboriginal Shire of Cherbourg |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:gbw – Kabi-Kabixby – Batyala |
| Glottolog | kabi1260 |
| AIATSIS[2] | E29 Gubbi Gubbi, E30 Butchulla |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Batyala | |
 Map of traditional lands of Aboriginal Australians around Brisbane; Gubbi Gubbi in yellow and Butchulla in light grey | |
 Badjala is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Gubbi Gubbi, also spelt Kabi Kabi, is a language of Queensland in Australia, formerly spoken by the Kabi Kabi people of South-east Queensland. The main dialect, Gubbi Gubbi, is extinct, but there are still 24 people with knowledge of the Butchulla dialect (also spelt Batjala, Batyala, Badjala, and variants), a language spoken by the Butchulla people of K'gari (Fraser Island).
Language status
[edit | edit source]The main dialect is extinct, but there were still 24 people with knowledge of the Batjala dialect (a language spoken by the Butchulla people of K'gari formerly known as Fraser Island) as of the 2016 Australian census.[1]
Phonology
[edit | edit source]The following is in the Badjala/Butchulla dialect:
Consonants
[edit | edit source]| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex/ Palatal |
Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | plain | b | d̪ | d | (ɟ) | ɡ |
| tense | pː | d̪ː | kː | |||
| Nasal | m | n̪ | n | (ɲ) | ŋ | |
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Rhotic | r | ɻ | ||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
- /n̪/ is always heard as palatal [ɲ] when preceding /i/, and in word-final position.
- /d̪/ can be heard in free variation with palatal [ɟ].
- /b d̪ ɡ/ can have lenited allophones [β ð ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
- /ɻ/ has a lateral allophone of [ɭ] when preceding /b/.
- /ɡ/ is often slightly palatalised as [ɡʲ] before /i/.
Vowels
[edit | edit source]| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː |
| Mid | ɛ ɛː | |
| Low | a aː | |
- /aː/ can sometimes be heard as [æː] before /l/.
- /u/ can be heard as [ɔ] when preceding an intervocalic /ɻ/.[3]
Lexicon
[edit | edit source]According to Norman Tindale (1974), the word Kabi (['kabi]), means "no".[2]
Wunya ngulum means "Welcome, everyone" in Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi.[4]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b E29 Gubbi Gubbi at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
- ^ Bell, Jeanie P. (2003). A sketch grammar of the Badjala language of Gari (Fraser Island). The University of Melbourne.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). Selected bibliography of material on Gubbi Gubbi / Kabi Kabi / Gabi Gabi language and people held in the AIATSIS Library
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). Heritage of Kabi Kabi people – Sunshine Coast Tourism Information Centre
- Joyce Bonner digital story, State Library of Queensland. Digital story discussing the Badtjala dialect
- Eve Fesl digital story, State Library of Queensland. Digital story discussing the Gubbi Gubbi language
