Maric languages facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Maran |
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| Ethnicity: | Murri peoples |
| Geographic distribution: |
Coastal Queensland |
| Linguistic classification: | Pama–Nyungan
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| Subdivisions: |
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 Maric languages (green) among Pama–Nyungan (tan). The outlined solid area on the coast is Kingkel. The striped areas, which may be Maric, are Ngaro and Giya on the coast and Guwa and Yanda in the interior.
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The Maran or Maric languages were a group of languages spoken by the Murri peoples in Queensland, Australia. Sadly, these languages are now extinct, meaning no one speaks them anymore. They belonged to a much larger group called the Pama–Nyungan family, which includes many Aboriginal Australian languages.
Many Maran languages were spoken across a large part of Queensland. While some of these languages were well-studied before they disappeared, others were not. This makes it hard for experts to know exactly how all the languages in the Maran group were connected.
Contents
Understanding the Maran Language Family
The Maran language family is a branch of the huge Pama–Nyungan language family. Think of it like a tree, where Pama–Nyungan is the main trunk, and Maran is one of its big branches.
Some of the Maran languages that we know more about include:
- Bidyara (which had many different ways of speaking it)
- Biri (also with several varieties)
- Warrungu (which includes Gugu-Badhun and Gudjal)
Experts are still learning about some languages. For example, Darumbal was once thought to be part of a different language group. But now, some researchers believe it might be a Maran language. It's not clear if another language, Bayali, is also Maran, as it's not very similar to Darumbal.
Languages That Are Hard to Classify
Many languages in the Queensland area became extinct before linguists (language scientists) could study them properly. This means it's often difficult to say for sure if they were part of the Maran family or another group.
Coastal Languages
On the coast, languages like Ngaro and Giya (also called Bumbarra) might have been Maran languages. Some think Giya could have been a dialect (a different way of speaking) of Biri.
Interior Languages
Further inland, to the west, there were many languages that are also hard to classify. Some experts call them "fringe" languages because they were spoken between the Maran languages and another group called the Karnic languages. These "fringe" languages don't seem to have strong connections to either Maran or Karnic, or even to each other.
One of the better-known languages from this area is Kalkutungu, even though it was geographically quite far away. Other languages from the interior that might have been Maran include:
Some experts also suggest that Guwa (Goa) and Yanda could be part of a larger "Greater Maric" area. It's a bit like a puzzle, and researchers are still working to put all the pieces together!
See also
In Spanish: Lenguas máricas para niños
