Yalarnnga language facts for kids

Yalarnnga (also called Jalarnnga or Yalanga) was an Indigenous Australian language. It belonged to the large Pama–Nyungan language family. Sadly, Yalarnnga is now an extinct language. This means that there are no longer any native speakers left. The last person who spoke Yalarnnga as their first language passed away in 1980.

The Yalarnnga people used to speak this language in areas near the Gulf of Carpentaria. These areas include towns like Dajarra and Cloncurry in far northwestern Queensland, Australia.

What is Yalarnnga?

Yalarnnga was a special kind of language called an agglutinative language. This means that words are formed by adding many small parts (called suffixes) to a base word. These suffixes change the meaning of the word. For example, you might add a suffix to show who is doing an action or when it happened. Yalarnnga did not use prefixes, which are parts added to the beginning of a word.

Language Family and Connections

Yalarnnga is part of the big Pama–Nyungan language family. This is the largest family of Indigenous Australian languages.

Sometimes, Yalarnnga is grouped with another language called Kalkatungu. When grouped together, they are called the Kalkatungic (or Galgadungic) branch. This suggests they might have been related or shared similar features. However, some experts think Kalkatungu is its own group. Others believe that the similarities between Yalarnnga and Kalkatungu came from people living close together and sharing words, rather than from being directly related in the same way.

Words from Yalarnnga

Here are some words from the Yalarnnga language. These words were written down by Yalarnnga authors:

• Kuyungu mungatha: This means "good day."
• Karlu or karlo: This word means "father."
• Mernoo: This word means "mother."
• Woothane: This was the word for "whiteman."
• Kathirr: This means "grass."
• Karni: This word means "shoulder."
• Katyimpa: This means the number "two."
• Kunyu: This word means "water."
• Karrkuru: This refers to a type of fish called "yellowbelly."
• Monero: This word means "tame dog."

See also

• In Spanish: Idioma yalarnnga para niños