Arandic languages facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Arandic
Geographic distribution:	South Australia
Linguistic classification:	Pama–Nyungan Arandic–Thura-Yura Arandic
Subdivisions:	Arrernte group Lower Arrernte Pertame Kaytetye
Arandic languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan)

Arandic is a group of Australian Aboriginal languages. These languages are spoken by Indigenous people in parts of South Australia. The Arandic family includes several languages or different ways of speaking, like the Arrernte group, Lower Arrernte, Pertame, and Kaytetye.

Languages of the Arandic Family

• Upper Arrernte (or just Arrernte) is a group of closely related ways of speaking. There are about five or six main types. The most common one is Central or Eastern Arrernte. People speak it in and around Alice Springs (Mparntwe).

• Lower Arrernte was also known as Alenjerrntarpe. It was spoken by people living near the Finke River. Sadly, this language is now extinct, meaning no one speaks it anymore. The last person who spoke Lower Arrernte was Brownie Doolan. A researcher named Gavan Breen was able to create a dictionary of about 1000 words from him. The AIATSIS says this was a truly separate language.

• Pertame is also called Southern Arrernte. It comes from the land south of Alice Springs, along the Finke River. In 2018, only about 20 people could speak Pertame fluently. A special effort called the Pertame Project is working to keep this language alive and help more people learn it. Pertame elder Christobel Swan leads this project. A famous artist named Erlikilyika (Jim Kite) was a Pertame speaker.

• Kaytetye is spoken near Barrow Creek and Tennant Creek by the Kaytetye community. In the 2016 census, only 120 people spoke Kaytetye. This number has been getting smaller over time.

How Languages Are Grouped

It can be tricky to decide if a language is a completely separate language or just a different way of speaking (a dialect). Even language experts and the Arrernte people themselves have different ideas about this.

• Some experts, like Koch (in 2004), thought there were only two main types: Upper Arrernte and Kaytetye.
• The Glottolog system says the Arandic group has five Arrernte dialects. It also lists two distinct languages: Kaytetye and Lower Southern Aranda (which is now extinct).
• Ethnologue, another language classification system, lists eight Arandic languages. Their way of grouping them is a bit different from others.

See also

In Spanish: Lenguas arándicas para niños