Lower Burdekin languages facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lower Burdekin
Region	Queensland, Australia
Ethnicity	Juru? Bindal?
Extinct	ca. 1900
Language family	Pama–Nyungan (unclassified: Nyawaygic?) Lower Burdekin
Dialects	Cunningham vocabulary Gorton vocabulary O'Connor vocabulary (Yuru)
Linguist List	xbb
AIATSIS	E62 Yuru
The Burdekin River in 2005
Lower Burdekin languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan)

The Lower Burdekin languages were a group of three different Australian Aboriginal languages. People spoke them around the mouth of the Burdekin River in northern Queensland, Australia. Sadly, these languages are now extinct, meaning no one speaks them anymore.

We know very little about them. Only a few short lists of words were written down in the 1800s. These lists were published in a book called The Australian Race in 1886. Because we only have these short lists, we don't know much about how their sentences were put together.

Discovering the Lower Burdekin Languages

These languages were spoken by Aboriginal people living near the Burdekin River. They are important because they are part of Australia's rich language history. Learning about them helps us understand the past.

What We Know About Each Language

One of the languages is called Yuru. It was recorded in a list by someone named O'Connor. Some experts think Yuru might be related to the Dyirbalic languages. These are another group of Aboriginal languages.

The other two languages were recorded in lists by Cunningham and Gorton. At first, people thought they might be related to the Maric languages. However, a language expert named Breen studied the lists. He found that the Cunningham and Gorton languages were different from each other. He also said they were not Maric languages. He believes one of them was the Bindal language.

Why These Languages Disappeared

Many Aboriginal languages became extinct after European settlement in Australia. This happened for many reasons. People were forced to move from their lands. Children were often not allowed to speak their traditional languages. This led to a sad loss of many unique languages, including the Lower Burdekin ones.

A Glimpse into the Past: The Wordlists

The wordlists collected in the 1800s are very special. They are the only records we have of these languages. They give us a small peek into the words these communities used every day.

The table below shows some words from the Cunningham, Gorton, and O'Connor (Yuru) wordlists. You can see how some words are similar and others are quite different. This helps experts understand if the languages were related.