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Kunjen language

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Kunjen
Uw
Native toAustralia
RegionCape York Peninsula, Queensland
EthnicityNgundjan (Ogh-Undjan), Uw Oykangand, Olkola
Native speakers
2 (2005)[1]
Dialects
  • Uw Oykangand
  • Uw Olkola
  • Ogh-Undjan
  • Kawarrang
  • Athina
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
kjn – Oykangand
olk – Olkol
Glottologkunj1248
AIATSIS[1]Y83 Kunjen (cover term), Y188 Kokiny, Y237 Athina
ELP
Kunjen is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Kunjen, or Uw, is a Paman language spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, by the Uw Oykangand, Olkola, and related Aboriginal Australian peoples.[2] It is closely related to Kuuk Thaayorre, and perhaps Kuuk Yak.

Two of its dialects, Uw Olkola (Olgolo) and Uw Oykangand (Koko Wanggara), are very close, being mutually intelligible and sharing 97% of their core vocabulary.[3] Another two, Ogh-Undjan and Kawarrangg, are also close, but somewhat more distant from the first pair. Kokinj (Kokiny) is a subdialect of Ogh-Undjan. A fifth variety, Athima, is poorly attested.

Below is a table showing the mutual intelligibility in vocabulary between the Kunjen dialects, based on a list of 100 basic words.[4]

Uw Oykangand 97% 44% 38%
Uw Olkola 43% 38%
Ogh-Undjan 82%
Kawarrangg

A small dictionary of Kunjen has been compiled by Philip Hamilton.[5] A great majority of words begin with a vowel (>96%), similar to the situation in distantly-related Arrernte. Exceptions include kinship terms and loanwords. Syllable onsets are thought to be present in all languages, so their absence in native lexicon is highly notable.

Respect register

[edit]

As in many other Australian languages, such as Dyirbal, Kunjen also has a respect register, which is a polite way of speaking with a potential mother-in-law and is called Olkel-Ilmbanhthi. Most of the vocabulary is replaced, while affixes and function words are kept.[6]

Normal Uw Oykangand:

Alka-nhdh

spear-INSTR

idu-rr

spear-PST

ay

I

Alka-nhdh idu-rr ay

spear-INSTR spear-PST I

"I speared it with a spear."

Equivalent in Olkel-Ilmbanhthi:

Udnga-nhdh

spear-INSTR

yanganyunyja-rr

spear-PST

ay

I

Udnga-nhdh yanganyunyja-rr ay

spear-INSTR spear-PST I

"I speared it with a spear."

Phonology

[edit]

Vowels

[edit]

Kunjen has 5 vowels:

Vowels[7]
Front Back
Unrounded Rounded
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

There is a lexical vowel harmony constraint in Kunjen: Close and mid vowels do not co-occur in a word.

Consonants

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Kunjen has 27 consonants:

Consonants[8]
Peripheral Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive voiceless p ⟨p⟩ k ⟨k⟩ c ⟨ch⟩ ⟨th⟩ t ⟨t⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ g ⟨g⟩ ɟ ⟨j⟩ ⟨dh⟩ d ⟨d⟩
Nasal plain m ⟨m⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ⟨nh⟩ n ⟨n⟩
prestopped ᵇm ⟨bm⟩ ᶢŋ ⟨gng⟩ ᶡɲ ⟨jny⟩ ᵈ̪n̪ ⟨dnh⟩ ᵈn ⟨dn⟩
Fricative f ⟨f⟩ ɣ ⟨ɣ⟩ ð ⟨ð⟩
Trill r ⟨rr⟩
Approximant Central w ⟨w⟩ j ⟨y⟩ ɻ ⟨r⟩
Lateral ʎ ⟨ly⟩ ⟨lh⟩ l ⟨l⟩
[edit]

The Uw Olkola word for the freshwater crocodile, ogakor, was used as the name of a tribe on the second season of the American reality television series, Survivor in 2001.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Y83 Kunjen (cover term) at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  2. ^ Crump, Des (10 August 2020). "Language of the Week: Week Eleven - Oykangand". State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Description of the languages Uw Olkola and Uw Oykangand". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  4. ^ Sommer, Bruce A. (January 1970). "An Australian Language Without CV Syllables". International Journal of American Linguistics. 36: 57–58. doi:10.1086/465090. S2CID 143977924.
  5. ^ "Uw Oykangand and Uw Olkola wordlist". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  6. ^ Evans, Nicholas (2006). "Warramurrungunji Undone: Australian Languages in the 51st Millennium". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Language Diversity Endangered. pp. 354–355.
  7. ^ Sommer 1969, pp. 37, 41.
  8. ^ Sommer 1969, pp. 37–40.
  9. ^ "Freshwater crocodile". oocities.org. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012.[self-published source?]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Sommer, Bruce A. (2006). Speaking Kunjen : an ethnography of Oykangand kinship and communication. Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 0858835576.