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Yir-Yoront language

{{Short description|Australian Aboriginal language}}

{{Use Australian English|date=October 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}

{{Infobox language

|name = Yir-Yoront

|altname = Yir

|states = Australia

|region = Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

|ethnicity=Yir-Yoront

|extinct = by 2005

|ref = aiatsis

|familycolor = Australian

|fam1 = Pama–Nyungan

|fam2 = Paman

|fam3 = Southwestern

|fam4 = Coastal

|lc1 = yyr | ld1 = Yir Yoront

|lc2 = yrm | ld2 = Yirrk-Mel

|glotto=yiry1247

|glottorefname=Yir Yoront

|glotto2=yiry1245

|glottoname2=bookkeeping with bibliography

|glottorefname2=Yir Yoront (retired)

|aiatsis=Y72

|aiatsisname=Yir Yoront

|aiatsis2=Y214

|aiatsisname2=Yirrk-Thangalkl

|dia1 = Yirr-Thutjim (Yir-Yoront)

|dia2 = Yirrk-Thangalkl (Yirrk-Mel)

|sign = Yir Yoront Sign Language

|notice=IPA

}}

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,[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=yiy Ethnologue] 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.{{cite book | last = Gaby | first = Alice Rose | year = 2006 | title = A Grammar of Kuuk Thaayorre | page = 6}} At present it is thought to be extinct.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 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.

Names

The first part of both of the name, Yir, is from the word yirrq meaning speech or language. Following is the ethnonym.{{cite book | last = Alpher | first = Barry | author-link = Barry Alpher | year = 1991 | title = Yir-Yoront Lexicon: Sketch and Dictionary of an Australian Language | page = 3}}

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

The following description is for Yir-Yoront proper. For another dialect, see Yirrk-Thangalkl dialect.

= Vowels =

Yir-Yoront has 6 vowels:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
rowspan="2" |

! Front

! Central

! Back

Unrounded

! Unrounded

! Rounded

Close

| {{IPAlink|i}}

|

| {{IPAlink|u}}

Close-mid

| {{IPAlink|e}}

|

| {{IPAlink|o}}

Mid

|

| {{IPAlink|ə}}

|

Open

|

| {{IPAlink|a}}

|

= Consonants =

Yir-Yoront has 20 consonants:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!rowspan=2|

!colspan=2| Peripheral

!colspan=2| Laminal

!colspan=2| Apical

!rowspan=2| Glottal

Bilabial

! Velar

! Postalveolar
/Palatal

! Dental

! Alveolar

! Retroflex

Nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}} {{angbr|m}}

| {{IPAlink|ŋ}} {{angbr|ng}}

| {{IPAlink|ɲ}} {{angbr|ny}}

| {{IPAlink|n̪}} {{angbr|nh}}

| {{IPAlink|n}} {{angbr|n}}

| {{IPAlink|ɳ}} {{angbr|rn}}

|

Plosive

| {{IPAlink|p}} {{angbr|p}}

| {{IPAlink|k}} {{angbr|k}}

| {{IPAlink|c}} {{angbr|ch}}

| {{IPAlink|t̪}} {{angbr|th}}

| {{IPAlink|t}} {{angbr|t}}

| {{IPAlink|ʈ}} {{angbr|rt}}

| {{IPAlink|ʔ}} {{angbr|q}}

Tap

| colspan="2" |

|

|

| {{IPAlink|ɾ}} {{angbr|rr}}

|

|

Lateral

| colspan="2" |

|

| {{IPAlink|l̪}} {{angbr|lh}}

| {{IPAlink|l}} {{angbr|l}}

| {{IPAlink|ɭ}} {{angbr|rl}}

|

Approximant

|colspan=2| {{IPAlink|w}} {{angbr|w}}

| {{IPAlink|j}} {{angbr|y}}

|

|

| {{IPAlink|ɻ}} {{angbr|r}}

|

Sign language

{{main|Australian Aboriginal sign languages}}

The Yir Yoront have (or had) a well-developed signed form of their language.Kendon, A. (1988) Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 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

  • Paradisec has language materials for Yir Yoront as part of the Arthur Capell collection (AC1) and the Barry Alpher collection ([http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/BA1 BA1])

References

= Notes =

{{reflist}}

= General =

: {{cite book

| author = Alpher, Barry

| year = 1991

| title = Yir-Yoront lexicon: Sketch and dictionary of an Australian language

| publisher = Mouton de Gruyter

| location = Berlin}}

{{Pama–Nyungan languages|Paman}}

Category:Southwestern Paman languages

Category:Extinct languages of Queensland

Category:Indigenous Australian languages in Queensland