Y45: Umpila

AIATSIS code: 
Y45
AIATSIS reference name: 
Umpila

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Name
Thesaurus heading language
Umpila language Y45
Thesaurus heading people
Umpila people Y45
ABN name
-
ABS name
Cape York Peninsula Languages, nec (Umpila)
Horton name
Umpila
Ethnologue name
Umpila
ISO 639-3 code
ump
Tindale name
Ombila
Tindale (1974)
Ompeila, Ompela, Umpila, Umpilo, Umbila, Oom-billa, Koko-umpilo.
O'Grady et al (1966)
?umpila, Umpila, Ompeila, Ompela, Umpilo
Glottocode
umpi1239
Other sources
Synonyms
Cape York Peninsula Languages, Ompela, Djindjanagu, Djundjanagu, Koko umpilo, Ombila, Ompeila, Oombilla, Umbila, Umpile, Umpilo, umpila, Oom billa
Comment
Comments: 

Umpila is a dialect complex which included at least six varieties before European settlement (Thompson 1988, in Hill 2011). Today only three are still spoken (Umpila, Kuuku Ya'u Y22 and Kaanju Y44), and only by a handful of speakers. (Hill 2011:58)

 

References: 
  • Capell, Arthur. 1963. Linguistic survey of Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
  • Hill, Clair. 2011. Named and unnamed spaces: colour, kin and the environment in Umpila. Senses & Society 6(1):57-67.
  • Thompson, David. 1988. Lockhart River 'sand beach' language: an outline of Kuuku Ya'u and Umpila: Work Papers of SIL-AAIB, A 11. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Status: 
Confirmed
Location
State / Territory: 
QLD
Location information: 

... south of Cape Sidmounth to north of Massy Creek and hinterland (Thompson 1988:2).

... a narrow strip of coastline extending from Breakfast Creek, at the north of Princess Charlotte Bay, to cape Sidmouth (Thomson 1972:3).

... the Umpila dialect area occupies about 55 kilometers of narrow coastal plain and low hills from the Massey River to as far north as Cape Sidmouth (Chase & Sutton 1987:73). Contemporary location: Nowadays most Umpila people reside in Lockhart River Aboriginal Community (Hill 2011:58).

 

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Links

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Tindale 1974
OLAC
SIL
Programs
Activities: 

A documentation project funded by Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project was carried out from December 2006 to December 2009 (http://wwwling.arts.kuleuven.be/fll/hrelp/). The English Aboriginal Dictionary project has created a multimedia English-Umpila-Kuuku Ya'u dictionary (http://www.turtlelane.com.au/TLS/SignificantProjectsData.html#mmdictionary)

People: 
Wolfgang Laade, Geoffrey O'Grady, Bruce Rigsby, David Thompson, Lamont West
Indigenous organisations: 
-
Speakers
Year Source Speaker numbers
1975Oates-
1984Senate-
1990Schmidt-100
1996Census-
2001Census-
2004NILS1
2005Estimate12
2006Census-
2011Census-
2014NILS242
2016Census-
2018-2019NILS311-50

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 Less than 20 pages 1
Grammar Sketch grammar (less than 100 pages) 2
Audio-visual More than 10 3
Manuscript note: 
tape transcription/field note available
Grammar: 

Thompson, David. 1988 Lockhart River sand beach language: an outline of Kuuku YaU and Umpila. Darwin:SIL.

Dictionary: 

O'Grady, Geoffrey. Umpila wordlist, ASEDA 0094.

Classification
Source Family Group Sub-group Name Relationship
Ethnologue (2005) Pama-Nyungan Paman Northeastern Pama Umpila  
Dixon (2002)   NORTH CAPE YORK SUBGROUP* Northern Paman subgroup* - Hale (1964, 1976b) Umpila Umpila Thompson (1988) further dialects: Kuuku Yani, Uutaalnganu, Kuuku Ya'u, Kuuku Iyu, Kaantju
Wurm (1994) Pama-Nyungan Paman   Umpila  
Walsh (1981) Pama-Nyungan Paman North-Eastern Pama Umpila  
Oates (1975) Pama-Nyungan   North-eastern Pama Umbila  
Wurm (1972) Pama-Nyungan Pama-Maric North-Eastern Pama Umpila  
O'Grady, Voegelin and Voegelin (1966) Pama-Nyungan Pama-Maric Middle Pama Ombila