G38: Lardil

AIATSIS code: 
G38
AIATSIS reference name: 
Lardil

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Name
Thesaurus heading language
Thesaurus heading people
ABN name
Lardil language
ABS name
Lardil
Horton name
Lardil
Ethnologue name
Lardil
ISO 639-3 code
lbz
Tindale name
Lardiil.
Tindale (1974)
Lardil, Lardi:i (typographical error), Laierdila, Ladil, Kunana (n.n. for Mornington Island), Kuna'na, Gunana, Mornington Island tribe (of Hedley). Kare-wa (dialect name fide Roth).
O'Grady et al (1966)
Kunana, Laierdila
Glottocode
lard1243
Other sources
-
Synonyms
Lardiil, Layardilda, Damin, Demin, Demiin, Gunana, Jungarl, Kare wa, Kunana, La:dil, Ladil, Laierdila, Lardi:i, Lardill, Leedil, Mornington Island tribe, Nemarang
Comment
Comments: 

Lardil is a  language from northern Australia in the Tangkic family, which have genetic affiliation with the non-Pama Nyungan languages of Arnhem Land, but long term contact with Pama Nyungan languages led to morphological and lexical borrowing, and a 'typological convergence ... away from the non-Pama-Nyungan headmarking, prefixing type to a fairly typical Pama-Nyungan type ... (Evans, 1995: 30, 38).

Languages from the North Wellesley Islands and adjoining mainland include Lardil (G38), Yukulta G34, Kayardild G35 and Yangkaal G37 which O'Grady - Voegelin - Voegelin (1966) classified in the 'Tangkic' group (tangka means 'person' in all four languages).

Evans classifies Kayardild G35 and Yangkaal G37 as dialects of one language (South Wellesley), while Yukulta (G34) and Nguburindi G19 are dialects of a separate, but closely related language (Mainland). Lardil (Mornington Island) is further removed,having a historical relationship with Proto-Tangkic (1995:9, 12).

Lardil (G38) incorporates a special speech variety called Demiin (G38) for use in particular occasions. Demiin (or: Damin) utilises a particular phonological range, and consist of a hundred or so word stems which exhibit highly abstract semantics to express the complex range of concepts spoken about in Lardil (Hale and Nash, 1997:247-8).

Blake defines the Tangkic group (Yukulta (G34) Lardil, G38, Kayardild G35) as non-Pama-Nyungan languages, based on the pronoun forms (1988:39).

Ash describes Lardil as Pama Nyungan (1997:7).

 

References: 
  • Ash, Anna. 1997. The process of writing a learner's guide to Lardil, an Australian Aboriginal Language. PMS 5713.
  • Blake, Barry. 1988. Redefining Pama-Nyungan in Evans, Nicholas and Steve Johnson (eds) Aboriginal Linguistics. Armidale: University of New England.
  • Evans, Nicholas. 1995. A grammar of Kayardild, with historical-comparative notes on Tangkic: Mouton Grammar Library 15. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
  • Hale, Ken and David Nash. Damin and Lardil phonotactics, in Tryon, Darrell and Michael Walsh (eds) Boundary Rider Essays in honour of Geoffrey O'Grady. ANU Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Series C-16, pp247-259.
  • Harvey, Mark. 2008. Non-Pama-Nyungan Languages: land-language associations at colonisation. AILEC 0802.
  • Tindale, Norman B. 1974. Aboriginal tribes of Australia: their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits, and proper names. Berkeley: University of California Press/Canberra: Australian National University Press.
Status: 
Confirmed
Location
State / Territory: 
QLD
Location information: 

The northern Wellesley Islands, extending south to include the northern half of Denham Island (Harvey AILEC 0802).

Mornington Island and the shore of Appel Channel on Denham Island (Tindale 1974).

 

Maps: 
-
Links
Programs
Activities: 
-
People: 
Anna Ash, Ken Hale, Sandra, Keen, Terry Klokeid, Frank Woolston
Speakers
Year Source Speaker numbers
1975Oates-
1984Senate-
1990Schmidt50
1996Census-
2001Census-
2004NILS110-1000
2005Estimate10
2006Census50
2011Census89
2014NILS2
2016Census65
2018-2019NILS3

Speaker numbers were measured differently across the censuses and various other sources listed in AUSTLANG. You are encouraged to refer to the sources.

Speaker numbers for ‘NILS 2004’ and ‘2005 estimate’ come from 'Table F.3: Numbers of speakers of Australian Indigenous languages (various surveys)' in 'Appendix F NILS endangerment and absolute number results' in McConvell, Marmion and McNicol 2005, pages 198-230 (PDF, 2.5MB).

Documentation
Type Documentation Status Documentation Score
Word list Large (more than 200 pages) 4
Text Collection Small (20-100 pages) 2
Grammar Large grammar (more than 200 pages) 4
Audio-visual More than 10 3
Manuscript note: 
tape transcription/field note available
Grammar: 

Klokeid, Terry. 1976. Topics in Lardil grammar, MIT: PhD.

Dictionary: 

Ngakulmungan Kangka Leman. 1997. Lardil dictionary : a vocabulary of the language of the Lardil people, Mornington Island, Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland : with English-Lardil finder list. Gununa, QLD: Mornington Shire Council.

Classification
Source Family Group Sub-group Name Relationship
Ethnologue (2005) Pama-Nyungan Lardil   Lardil Lardil [dialects: Related to Kayardild, Nyangga, Yugulda.]
Dixon (2002)   TANGKIC SUBGROUP*   Lardil Lardil Hale (1997)
Wurm (1994) Pama-Nyungan Tangic   Lardil  
Walsh (1981) Pama-Nyungan Tangic   Lardil  
Oates (1975) Pama-Nyungan   Tangic Lardil  
Wurm (1972) Pama-Nyungan Tangic   Lardil  
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966) Pama-Nyungan Tangkic   Lardil