Y80: Kuku-Warra

AIATSIS code: 
Y80
AIATSIS reference name: 
Kuku-Warra

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Name
Thesaurus heading language
Kuku-Warra language Y80
Thesaurus heading people
Kuku-Warra people Y80
ABN name
-
ABS name
-
Horton name
Kokowarra
Ethnologue name
Gugu Warra
ISO 639-3 code
wrw
Tindale name
Kokowara, Laia (Kokowara)
Tindale (1974)
Kookawarra, Coo-oo-warra, Gugu-Warra; Laura-Deighton tribe for Kokowara. Koko Laia, Kokowara (Koko-jelandji term, means poor or bad speech), Coo-coo-warra for Laia.
O'Grady et al (1966)
Glottocode
gugu1256
Other sources
Aghu Laia (Hale) [Sommer 1969:9] Aku Laia [Sharp 1939:257 - which Tindale 1940: 165 identifies as Koko-Wara]
Synonyms
Kuku Wara, Gugu Warra, Kokowarra, Coo coo warra, Jaram, KokoWara, Koko wara, Koko Wara, Kookowara, "Lama Deighton Tribe", Wara, Wijaram, Gugu Wara, Kokowara, Laia, Aghu Laia, Kookawarra, Coo oo warra, Gugu Warra; Laura Deighton tribe for Kokowara, Koko Laia, Coo coo warra for Laia
Comment
Comments: 
Godman (1993:8) disagrees with Dixon (2002:xxxii) that Koko Wara is closely related to Rimanggudinhma Y195; despite sharing many lexical forms, the grammatical structures are not similar. Sutton (1993) lists six clans with Kuku-Warra language affiliation. Sommer's sketch grammar of 'Koko Warra' (1999: PMS 5919:2) includes identifiers 'mba.riman.nggutin-ma Y195 or 'ba.igunang.gutin' and 'mba.rum.bata-ma' or 'Lamalama' Y136 (n.b. the form of these terms 'mba.riman.ngutin-ma' resembles clan names). Rigsby notes that the name 'Kuku Warra / Gugu Warra' is one with shifting reference, with the sense 'strange, not intelligible' (2005:138), and applied to languages that one could not understand, the opposite to Gugu Mini Y94. Previously the Language Thesaurus treated A'ragu Y75 as an alternative name for Kuku-Warra, but subsequent investigation indicates that it is likely a distinct language, possibly a closely related dialect of Kuku-Warra, the most compelling evidence being West's notes on his 1965 recordings of the language (MS 2456, Item 4).
References: 
  • Black, Paul. 1975. Report on Koko-Wara. (PMS 3086).
  • Dixon, R. M. W. 2002. Australian languages: their nature and development: Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Godman, Irene. 1993. A sketch grammar of Rimanggudinhma: a language of the Princess Charlotte Bay region of Cape York Peninsula, University of Queensland: BA (Hons). (MS 3585).
  • Oates, William J., and Lynette F. Oates. 1970. A revised linguistic survey of Australia: Australian Aboriginal Studies 33, Linguistic Series 12. Canberra: AIAS.
  • 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.
  • Roth, W.E. 1898. Notes on social and individual nomenclature among certain north Queensland Aboriginals . Royal Society of Queensland Proceedings, v.13, 1898; [39] - 50.
  • Sommer, Bruce. 1976. Gog-Gaber, Gogo Dhawa, Ogh Undjan, Igaranggal, ms. (MS 1600).
  • Sommer, Bruce. 1999. Koko Warra. PMS 5919.
  • Sutton, Peter. 1993. The Flinders Islands and Melville National Parks Land Claim. MS 3813.
  • 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.
  • West, La Mont. 1965 [1961 - 65]. Notes for the Australian Aboriginal sign language film. Manuscript. AIATSIS. MS 2456 (Item 4).
Status: 
Confirmed
Location
State / Territory: 
QLD
Location information: 
Normandy River from Lakefield south to Laura River, Q (Oates & Oates 1970:202, Tindale 1974) Spanning the Kennedy and Normanby Rivers from the Jack River to Chief camp in close vicinity to Balser's Knob. They follow up the Normanby and Deighton Rivers as far as the Laura, travel up Statioin and Sandy Creeks to the Morehead, and westward they wander over to Jeannette's Tableland (Roth as quoted in Sommer 1976:130)
Maps: 
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Links

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Tindale 1974
OLAC
SIL
Programs
Activities: 
-
People: 
Bruce Sommer,
Indigenous organisations: 
-
Speakers
Year Source Speaker numbers
1975Oates-
1984Senate-
1990Schmidt-
1996Census-
2001Census-
2004NILS1-
2005Estimate-
2006Census-
2011Census-
2014NILS2
2016Census-
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
TypeDocumentation StatusDocumentation Score
Word listNone0
Text Collection1 (poems)
GrammarSketch grammar (less than 100 pages)2
Audio-visual1-102
Manuscript note: 
not available
Grammar: 

Sommer, Bruce. 1999. Koko Warra. Townsville.

Dictionary: 
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Classification
SourceFamilyGroupSub-groupNameRelationship
Ethnologue (2005)Pama-NyunganPamanMbarimanGugu Warra
Dixon (2002)SOUTH-EAST CAPE YORK PENINSULA GROUPRimang-Gudinhma/Kuku-Wara groupKuku-WaraKuku-Wara
Wurm (1994)Pama-NyunganPamanGugu Warra
Walsh (1981)Pama-NyunganPamanLamalamicGugu Warra
Oates (1975)Pama-NyunganLamalamicWurangung (or Waric Paman)Gugu Wara
Wurm (1972)
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966)