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Concept
Dyirbal language
Summary
Dyirbal ˈdʒɜrbəl (also Djirubal) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in northeast Queensland by the Dyirbal people. In 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that there were 8 speakers of the language. It is a member of the small Dyirbalic branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. It possesses many outstanding features that have made it well known among linguists.
In the years since the Dyirbal grammar by Robert Dixon was published in 1972, Dyirbal has steadily moved closer to extinction as younger community members have failed to learn it.
There are many different groups speaking dialects of Dyirbal language. Researcher Robert Dixon estimates that Dyirbal had, at its peak, 10 dialects.
Dialects include:
Dyirbal (or Jirrbal) spoken by the Dyirbalŋan
Mamu, spoken by the Waɽibara, Dulgubara, Bagiɽgabara, Dyiɽibara, and Mandubara (There are also different types of Mamu spoken by individual groups, such as Warribara Mamu, and Dulgubara Mamu)
Giramay (Or Girramay), spoken by the Giramaygan
Gulŋay (or Gulngay), spoken by the Malanbara
Dyiru (or Djirru), spoken by the Dyirubagala
Ngadyan (or Ngadjan), spoken by the Ngadyiandyi
Walmalbarra
The speakers of these dialects largely regard their dialects as different languages. They were classified as dialects by researcher Robert Dixon, who classified them as such based on linguistic criteria and their similarities, some dialects sharing as much as 90% of their vocabularies. Since the dialects were viewed by speakers as different languages, the language had no formal name, so Dixon assigned the language the name Dyirbal, naming it after Jirrbal, which was the dialect with the largest number of speakers at the time he was studying it.
Languages neighbouring the many Dyirbal dialects include:
Ngaygungu
Mbabaram
Muluriji
Yidiny
Warungu
Warrgamay
Nyawaygi
Dyirbal has only four places of articulation for the stop and nasals, whereas most other Australian Aboriginal languages have five or six. This is because Dyirbal lacks the dental/alveolar/retroflex split typically found in these languages.
Official source
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