Y55: Morrobolam | AIATSIS Collection

AIATSIS code:

Y55

AIATSIS reference name:

Morrobolam

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Name

Thesaurus heading language	Morrobolam language Y55
Thesaurus heading people	Lamalama people Y55
ABN name	-
ABS name	Morrobalama
Horton name	Lamalama
Ethnologue name	Umbuygamu
ISO 639-3 code	umg
Tindale name	Barungguan (Umbuigamu)
Tindale (1974)	Barunguan (typographical error), Baka (Kandju term), Banjigam (Bakanambia term), Jintjingga (native name of a place at mouth of Stewart River), Yintjingga, Njindingga, Umbuigamu (horde), Umbindhamu (horde), Ganganda.
O'Grady et al (1966)
Glottocode	umbu1256
Other sources	Umpuykumu [Thompson PMS 1825] Umbuygamu (the Umpila name for this language), Morrobalama (speakers' term used for their own language), Morrobolam language [Rigsby 1992:356] Morrabalama [Rigsby 2005:136] Morrobolam (a clan name) Verstraete [2018 p.c.]
Synonyms	Morroba Lama, Umbuygamu, Kuuku yani, Barunguan, Yindyingga, Ajarumbal, Aradal, Bungkol, Burlngulu, Juwinbadha, Barungguan, Umpuykumu, Umbuykamu, Baka, Banjigam, Jintjingga, Yintjingga, Njindingga, Umbuigamu, Umbindhamu, Ganganda, Lamalamic, Lamalama

Comment

Comments:

Formerly listed as Umbuygamu (Y55) in this database. Three languages Lamalama Y136, Rimanggudinhma Y195 and Morrobolam (Y55) form a genetic subgroup of Paman known as Lamalamic. 'This subgroup is defined by shared innovations in phonology and morphology, specifically the development of voicing contrasts in trills, the setup of verbal inflections, and a number of innovative forms in nominal morphology. Within this subgroup, Morrobolam and Lamalama form a phonologically innovative branch, while Rumanggudinhma forms a more conservative branch' (Verstraete, 2018:1-2). Morrobolam is the name of a clan who speak a language also known by the exonym Umbuygamu (Y55). Morrobalama is a mis-transcription, probably influenced by the word 'Lamalama' (Verstraete, 2018 p.c.).

In modern times people associated with this language variety often identify as Lamalama, along with Yintyingka Y236, Umpithamu Y50, Rimanggudinhma Y195 and Mbarrumbathama Y136.

References:

Ogilvie, Sarah. 1994a. A wordlist of the Morrobalama (Umbuygamu) language of Cape York, Australia. Umagico: Umagico Council.
Ogilvie, Sarah. 1994b. The Morrobalama (Umbuygamu) language of Cape York Peninsula, Australia, Australian National University: MA Thesis, MS 3634.
Rigsby, Bruce. 1992. The languages of the Princess Charlotte Bay region. In The language game: papers in memory of Donald C. Laycock, eds Tom Dutton, Malcolm Ross and Darrell Tryon, 353-360. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Rigsby, Bruce. 2005. The languages of Eastern Cape York Peninsula and linguistic anthropology. In Donald Thomson: the man and the scholar, eds Bruce Rigsby and Nicolas Peterson, 129-142. Canberra: Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Thompson, David A. 1975. Distribution of dialects along the east coast and hinterland of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. [PMS 1825].
Verstraete, Jean-Christophe. 2012. Contact-induced restructuring of pronominal morphosyntax in Umpithamu (Cape York Pensinsula, Australia). Diachronica. 29(3). 326-358. doi: 10.1075/dia.29.3.03ver
Verstraete, Jean-Christophe. 2018. The Genetic Status of Lamalamic: Phonological and Morphological Evidence, in Oceanic Linguistics, 57:1.

Status:

Confirmed

Location

State / Territory:

QLD

Location information:

Originally spoken in the Princess Charlotte Bay region of the eastern coast of Cape York (Ogilvie 1994:1). ... the focal area is around Repmana or Dinner Hole, a lagoon that transects the sand ridges about 10 kmwest of the North Kennedy mouth. One of the clans, the Morrobolam, owns several non-contiguous countries inland and one the coast, including the Cliff Islands just offshore (Rigsby 1992:356). Running Creek (probably Balclutha Creek) (Thompson PMS 1825). Contemporary location: Umagico and Coen (Ogilvie in Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics 2006 Elsiever vol 8:340). Verstraete reports there are no speakers at Umagico; this was the place where people were forcibly resettled in the 1960s. There were some people there into the 1990s (2018 p.c.).

Maps:

Links

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Programs

Activities:

A documentation project funded by Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project is carried out from December 2006 to December 2009 (http://wwwling.arts.kuleuven.be/fll/hrelp/).

People:

Sarah Ogilvie, Bruce Rigsby, Bruce Sommer, Jean-Christophe Verstraete.

Indigenous organisations:

Speakers

Year	Source	Speaker numbers
1975	Oates	-
1984	Senate	-
1990	Schmidt	-
1996	Census	-
2001	Census	-
2004	NILS1	-
2005	Estimate	3
2006	Census	-
2011	Census	-
2014	NILS2
2016	Census	-
2018-2019	NILS3	1-10

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	Small (20-100 pages)	2
Text Collection	None	0
Grammar	Sketch grammar (less than 100 pages)	2
Audio-visual	More than 10	3

Manuscript note:

tape transcription/field note available

Grammar:

Ogilvie, Sarah. 1994. The Morrobalama (Umbuygamu) language of Cape York Peninsula, Australia, Australian National University: MA.

Sommer, Bruce. 1998. Umbuygamu. Townsville, Ethnografix.

Dictionary:

Ogilvie, Sarah. 1994. A wordlist of the Morrobalama (Umbuygamu) language of Cape York, Australia. Umagico: Umagico Council.

Classification

Source	Family	Group	Sub-group	Name	Relationship
Ethnologue (2005)	Pama-Nyungan	Paman	Lamalamic	Umbuygamu
Dixon (2002)		SOUTH-EAST CAPE YORK PENINSULA GROUP	Lama subgroup*	Morroba-Lama (or Umbuygamu)	Morroba-Lama (or Umbuygamu)
Wurm (1994)	Pama-Nyungan	Paman		Umbuygamu
Walsh (1981)	Pama-Nyungan	Paman	Lamalamic	Umbuygamu
Oates (1975)	Pama-Nyungan	Lamalamic	Umbuygamu	Umbuygamu
Wurm (1972)	Pama-Nyungan	Lamalamic	Umbuykamu	Umbuykamu
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966)