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Concept
Kaurna language
Summary
Kaurna (ˈɡɑːnə or ˈɡaʊnə) is a Pama-Nyungan language historically spoken by the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. The Kaurna peoples are made up of various tribal clan groups, each with their own parnkarra district of land and local dialect. These dialects were historically spoken in the area bounded by Crystal Brook and Clare in the north, Cape Jervis in the south, and just over the Mount Lofty Ranges. Kaurna ceased to be spoken on an everyday basis in the 19th century and the last known native speaker, Ivaritji, died in 1929. Language revival efforts began in the 1980s, with the language now frequently used for ceremonial purposes, such as dual naming and welcome to country ceremonies.
R. M. W. Dixon (2002) classified Kaurna as a dialect of the Kadli language, along with Ngadjuri, Narungga, and Nukunu, and "Nantuwara", with kadli meaning "dog" in these varieties. However this name has not gained wide acceptance and is not recorded as a language in the AIATSIS AUSTLANG database.
Luise Hercus and J. Simpson (2002, 2006) classify Kaurna as within the subgroup of Thura-Yura languages.
The name "Kaurna" was not widely used until popularised by South Australian Museum Ethnographer Norman B. Tindale in the 1920s. The term "Kaurna" was first recorded by Missionary Surgeon Dr William Wyatt (1879: 24) for "Encounter Bay Bob's Tribe". At the same time he recorded "Meeyurna" for "Onkaparinga Jack's Tribe".
Kaurna most likely derives from kornar, the word for "people" in the neighbouring Ramindjeri/ Ngarrindjeri language. Mullawirraburka (Onkaparinga Jack, also known to the colonists as "King John"), was one of Lutheran missionaries Christian Teichelmann and Clamor Schürmann's main sources. Encounter Bay Bob, as his name suggests, came from Encounter Bay (Victor Harbor) and was most likely a fully initiated elder Ramindjeri man. Thus "Meyunna" is probably an endonym and would linguistically be preferable as the name for this language group, as suggested in the mid-1990s.
Official source
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