Torres Strait Island languages
Encyclopedia
There are two languages indigenous to Torres Strait Islanders
, and an English-based Creole. The western-central language is an agglutinative language which however appears to be undergoing a transition into a declensional language, while Meriam Mìr is more clearly agglutinative. Brokan is a typical Pacific English Creole.
s do, these being: Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kalau Kawau Ya, Kulkalgau Ya and Kawalgau Ya (this latter also called Kowrareg, which is from the mid-19th century Kowrareg dialect form kauraraiga/kaurarega islander. Kalaw Lagaw Ya is often called Kala Lagaw Ya in the literature - the form is the colloquial version of Kalaw Lagaw Ya [the genitive -w is often elided in colloquial speech].
The four dialects of the Western-Central Language are very close to each other, somewhat like Standard American and Standard British English are to each other. Its vocabulary is potentially 80% non-Australian; at least some of the non-Australian content is demonstrably Papuan (Trans-Fly) and Austronesian (South-East Papuan - see for example Bruno David, Ian McNiven, Rod Mitchell, Meredith Orr, Simon Haberle, Liam Brady and Joe Crouch, “Badu 15 and the Papuan–Austronesian Settlement of Torres Strait”. In Archaeology in Oceania; 1/7/2004). It is an interesting language in having feminine and masculine gender, though no neuter gender [this is typical among Australian languages that have gender] - and the difference is semantically significant in that many words can be masculine or feminine according to basic reference or culturally significant reference. For example, za as masculine means 'an important topic/subject', and as feminine is 'thing, object'. Gœiga when masculine means 'sun', and when feminine means 'day'.
. This is a Papuan language and is related to the languages of the nearby coast of Papua New Guinea
. Meriam Mir is the only Papuan language indigenous to Australia, and used to have two dialects, Erubim Mìr and Meriam Mir.
Both languages are strictly speaking mixed languages, Meriam Mìr having some Australian/Kalaw Lagaw Ya influence as well as Austronesian. It is probably the case that Meriam Mìr settlers 'overlaid' Kalaw lagaw ya speakers on the Eastern islands (these non-Meriam people who have always been resident on the Eastern Islands are called Nog Le 'Common People', Lawrie).
that has developed since around the 1880s. This Torres Strait Creole
is also known as Blaikman Tok, Broken/Brokan and Yumplatok. It has five dialects, Papuan, Western-Central, Eastern, TI and Cape York.
Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally and genetically linked to Melanesian peoples and those of Papua New Guinea....
, and an English-based Creole. The western-central language is an agglutinative language which however appears to be undergoing a transition into a declensional language, while Meriam Mìr is more clearly agglutinative. Brokan is a typical Pacific English Creole.
The Western-Central Torres Strait Island Language
The language of the western and central islands of Torres Strait is related to languages of the Australian mainland and is a member of the Pama–Nyungan family of languages, which covers most of Australia. This language, like many others in the world, does not have its own name although its dialectDialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s do, these being: Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kalau Kawau Ya, Kulkalgau Ya and Kawalgau Ya (this latter also called Kowrareg, which is from the mid-19th century Kowrareg dialect form kauraraiga/kaurarega islander. Kalaw Lagaw Ya is often called Kala Lagaw Ya in the literature - the form is the colloquial version of Kalaw Lagaw Ya [the genitive -w is often elided in colloquial speech].
The four dialects of the Western-Central Language are very close to each other, somewhat like Standard American and Standard British English are to each other. Its vocabulary is potentially 80% non-Australian; at least some of the non-Australian content is demonstrably Papuan (Trans-Fly) and Austronesian (South-East Papuan - see for example Bruno David, Ian McNiven, Rod Mitchell, Meredith Orr, Simon Haberle, Liam Brady and Joe Crouch, “Badu 15 and the Papuan–Austronesian Settlement of Torres Strait”. In Archaeology in Oceania; 1/7/2004). It is an interesting language in having feminine and masculine gender, though no neuter gender [this is typical among Australian languages that have gender] - and the difference is semantically significant in that many words can be masculine or feminine according to basic reference or culturally significant reference. For example, za as masculine means 'an important topic/subject', and as feminine is 'thing, object'. Gœiga when masculine means 'sun', and when feminine means 'day'.
The Eastern Torres Strait Language
The language of eastern Torres Strait is Meriam MìrMeriam language
Meriam is the language of the people of Mer , Waier and Dauar, Erub and Ugar in the...
. This is a Papuan language and is related to the languages of the nearby coast of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. Meriam Mir is the only Papuan language indigenous to Australia, and used to have two dialects, Erubim Mìr and Meriam Mir.
Both languages are strictly speaking mixed languages, Meriam Mìr having some Australian/Kalaw Lagaw Ya influence as well as Austronesian. It is probably the case that Meriam Mìr settlers 'overlaid' Kalaw lagaw ya speakers on the Eastern islands (these non-Meriam people who have always been resident on the Eastern Islands are called Nog Le 'Common People', Lawrie).
Torres Strait Creole
The third 'indigenous' language of the Torres Straits is a creoleCreole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
that has developed since around the 1880s. This Torres Strait Creole
Torres Strait Creole
Torres Strait Creole is an English-based creole language spoken on several Torres Strait Islands , Northern Cape York and South-Western Coastal Papua...
is also known as Blaikman Tok, Broken/Brokan and Yumplatok. It has five dialects, Papuan, Western-Central, Eastern, TI and Cape York.
Examples
The table below shows how some example phrases differ in the western dialects Kalau Kawau Ya, Kawalgau Ya, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kulkalgau Ya and 'old' Kawalgau Ya [Kauraraigau Ya - Kowrareg], the eastern language Meriam Mìr, and the creole Brokan.| English | I am an Islander | I go home/to the house |
|---|---|---|
| Kalau Kawau Ya | Ngai kawau mœbaig Ngai kawalaig |
Ngai lagapa [uzariz] |
| Kawalgau Ya | Ngai mudhapa/lagapa [uzari] | |
| Kalaw Lagaw Ya | Ngay kaywaw mœbayg Ngay kaywalayg |
Ngay mudhaka [uzari] |
| Kulkalgau Ya | ||
| Kauraregau Ya (1850s Kowrareg) |
Ngai kaurau mœbaiga Ngai kauraraiga |
Ngai lagapa [uzarrizi] |
| Meriam Mìr | Kaka kaur le nali | Ka meta ìm bakeamuda |
| Brokan | Ai ailan man | Ai go aus |