Gooniyandi language
Encyclopedia
Gooniyandi is an Australian Aboriginal language
now spoken by about 100 people, most of whom live in or near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia
. Gooniyandi is an endangered language
as it is not being passed on to children, who instead grow up speaking Kriol
.
, to about the same degree as English is related to Dutch. The two are the only members of the Bunuban language family
. Unlike the majority of Australian Aboriginal languages, Gooniyandi and Bunuba are non-Pama–Nyungan.
was adopted by the community in 1984, and subsequently revised in 1990 and again in 1999. It is not phonemic
, as it omits some distinctions made in speech.
; it uses an ergative-absolutive case system. It is a verb-final language, but without a dominant order between the subject and the object.
Australian Aboriginal languages
The Australian Aboriginal languages comprise several language families and isolates native to the Australian Aborigines of Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding the languages of Tasmania and the Torres Strait Islanders...
now spoken by about 100 people, most of whom live in or near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Gooniyandi is an endangered language
Endangered language
An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language"....
as it is not being passed on to children, who instead grow up speaking Kriol
Australian Kriol language
Kriol is an Australian creole language that developed initially in the region of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales in the early days of White colonisation, and then moved west and north with White and Black stockmen and others...
.
Classification
Gooniyandi is closely related to BunubaBunuba language
Bunuba is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by some 160 older adults, most of whom live in or near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia....
, to about the same degree as English is related to Dutch. The two are the only members of the Bunuban language family
Bunuban languages
The Bunuban languages are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Australia. The family consists of two languages, Bunuba and Gooniyandi, which are related to each other to about the same degree that English is related to Dutch. Both have about 100 speakers, and are...
. Unlike the majority of Australian Aboriginal languages, Gooniyandi and Bunuba are non-Pama–Nyungan.
Writing system
A system of spelling Gooniyandi in the Latin alphabetLatin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
was adopted by the community in 1984, and subsequently revised in 1990 and again in 1999. It is not phonemic
Phonemic orthography
A phonemic orthography is a writing system where the written graphemes correspond to phonemes, the spoken sounds of the language. In terms of orthographic depth, these are termed shallow orthographies, contrasting with deep orthographies...
, as it omits some distinctions made in speech.
Grammar
Gooniyandi has no genders, but a large number of casesGrammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
; it uses an ergative-absolutive case system. It is a verb-final language, but without a dominant order between the subject and the object.