Burduna language facts for kids

Burduna is an old Aboriginal language from Australia. People also called it Purduna, Bayungu, or Payungu. It was spoken in the Pilbara region, between the Ashburton and Gascoyne rivers. Burduna is part of the Kanyara language family. Other languages in this family include Thalanyji.

Sadly, Burduna is now critically endangered. This means very few people speak it. By 2004, there were no native speakers left. However, some people with Burduna heritage still know a few words and phrases.

The Burduna People and Their Language

The Burduna people lived in north-western Australia. Their traditional lands were around the Ashburton and Gascoyne rivers. This area included the Yannarie and Lyndon rivers. Some parts of the Towera region were also their traditional country.

The Kanyara people spoke three main languages. These were Purduna (or Burduna), Thalanyji, and Bayungu (or Payungu). These three languages were quite similar. They shared 60-70% of their words. Their sentence structures were also very much alike.

How Burduna Society Was Organized

Burduna society had a special structure. It was divided into four main groups. Each group was then split into 'totems'. These totems were further divided into smaller groups called 'phratries'.

People in a phratry had special titles. These titles were used like names. Children belonged to their father's phratry. This means it was passed down through the male side of the family. People were not allowed to marry someone from the same totem phratry.

Sometimes, these totems included people from different language groups. For example, the 'Snake' totem included both Burduna and Thalanyji speakers.

Why Burduna Language Declined

Over time, the Burduna language was used less and less. This happened because of new settlements in the Ashburton and Gascoyne river areas. It is thought the language died out in the first half of the 1900s.

A few people in Onslow and Carnarvon still know some words. But most Burduna descendants have married into other language groups. A survey in 2004 found no native speakers. This is why Burduna is now classified as critically endangered.

Burduna Words and Grammar

The Burduna language has two main types of words. It also has three smaller types.

The first main type includes nominal words. These are words like nouns (names of things), adjectives (describing words), and pronouns (like 'he' or 'she'). It also includes names, demonstratives (like 'this' or 'that'), and cardinal directions (like 'north' or 'south').

The second main type of word is verbs. These are action words. The three smaller types of words are adverbs (describing verbs), particles (small words that add meaning), and interjections (like 'Wow!' or 'Oh!').

How Burduna Language Changed Over Time

Burduna is known as a double-marking language. Even though it's a Kanyara language, it changed a lot. It developed differently from other languages in its group.

Sound Changes in Burduna

Over many years, Burduna lost most of its nasal sounds. It also lost its tones. Some words that had 'p' and 'k' sounds changed. They became a 'w' sound instead. For example, papu (father) became pawu. Also, puka (bad) became puwa.

But this change didn't happen if the word already had a 'w' sound. In those cases, 'p' and 'k' sounds became softer. They were pronounced as 'b' and 'g'.

Another big change was in longer words. Words like yakan (spouse) and pukurra (devil) became shorter. They lost their middle sounds. So, yakan became yaan, and pukurra became puurra. The vowel sounds in these words became long and drawn out.

Burduna words also had groups of consonants together. For example, 'db' in dagba (spider) or 'rdg' in ngardga (beard). Over time, these consonant groups also became softer. For instance, 'mb' was said as 'p'. 'nd' was said as 't'. And 'ngg' was said as 'k'.

Also, where other languages had a 'dh' or 'j' in the middle of words, Burduna often had a 'y'. For example, the Thalanyji word ngadhal (cousin) was ngayal in Burduna.