Gamilaraay language


The Gamilaraay or Kamilaroi language is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup found mostly in south-east Australia. It was the traditional language of the Gamilaraay, but is now endangered—according to Ethnologue, only 35 speakers were left in 2006, all mixing Gamilaraay and English. However, thousands of Australians of mixed descent identify as Gamilaraay. The Gamilaraay language is also taught in some Australian schools.

Name

The name Gamilaraay means gamil-having, with gamil being the word for "no". Other dialects and languages are similarly named after their respective words for "no".
Spellings of the name, pronounced in the language itself, include:

Dialects

Southern Aboriginal guides led the surveyor John Howe to the upper Hunter River above present-day Singleton in 1819. They told him that the country there was "Coomery Roy and more further a great way", meaning to the north-west, over the Liverpool Ranges. This is probably the first record of the name.
A basic wordlist collected by Thomas Mitchell in February, 1832, is the earliest written record of Gamilaraay.
Presbyterian missionary William Ridley studied the language from 1852 to 1856.

Phonology

Vowels

is realized as.

Consonants

Initially, and may be simplified to and.

Stress

All long vowels in a word get equal stress. If no long vowels are present, stress falls on the first syllable. Secondary stress falls on short vowels, which are two syllables to the right or to the left of a stressed syllable.

Grammar

Pronouns

Gawambaraay Dialect
Subject pronouns:
SingularDualPlural
1st personngayangalingiyaani
2nd personngindungindaalingindaay
3rd personngurugaliganu

Gamilaraay words in English

Several loanwords have entered Australian English from Gamilaraay, including: