Umpithamu language facts for kids

Umpithamu, also spelled Umbindhamu, is an Aboriginal language from Australia. It was spoken by people living on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.

In July 2020, a special book called A Dictionary of Umpithamu was published. It was put together by a linguist named Jean-Christophe Verstraete. He worked with two main language experts, Florrie Bassani and her niece Joan Liddy.

Understanding Umpithamu

Umpithamu is a language that belongs to the group of Australian Aboriginal languages. These languages have been spoken by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years.

How Languages Are Grouped

Languages are often grouped into "families" based on how they are related. This is like how your family has different members.

Most experts think Umpithamu is part of the Paman languages family. This is a large group of languages spoken across the Cape York Peninsula. However, one expert, Dixon, thinks Umpithamu might be a language isolate. This means he believes it is not closely related to any other known language.

Shared Language Features

A researcher named Rigsby looked at Umpithamu in 1997. He found that Umpithamu shares some grammar rules with other languages spoken by the Lama Lama people. But it shares more words with languages like Ayapathu and Umpila.

Languages of the Lamalama People

The Lama Lama people are an Indigenous group from Australia. In 2008, Jean-Christophe Verstraete said there were four languages connected to them:

• Umpithamu
• Morrobolam
• Mba Rumbathama (also called Mbarrumbathama or Lamalama)
• Rimanggudinhma language (also called Mbariman-Gudhinma)

By 2020, he mentioned there were five languages linked to the Lamalama people. The name of the fifth language was not written down in the article.

The Lamalamic Subgroup

Verstraete also wrote in 2018 about how these languages are related. He said that Lamalama, Rimanggudinhma, and Morrobolam form a "genetic subgroup" called Lamalamic. This means they are very closely related. They share special changes in their sounds (phonology) and how words are formed (morphology).

The name "Yintjinggu/Jintjingga" is a place. It is used for both Umpithamu and the nearby Ayabadhu language.

See also

In Spanish: Idioma umpithamu para niños