The Gunaikurnai or Gunai/Kurnai ( ) language, also spelt Gunnai, Kurnai, Ganai, Gaanay, or Kurnay ) is an

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

dialect cluster of the Gunaikurnai people in

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

in south-east

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Bidawal was either a divergent dialect or a closely related language.

Varieties

means 'man'. The language had no traditional name, but each of its dialects was referred to separately. In a 1996 report to the

Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages Aboriginal Victorians, the Aboriginal Australians of Victoria, Australia, occupied the land for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement. Aboriginal people have lived a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, a ...

, Clark refers to five Gunaikurnai dialects: ''Brabralung'', ''Braiakalung'', ''Brataualung'', ''Krauatungalung'' and ''Tatungalung''. * ( = man, = belonging to) located in central Gippsland. * ( = Man, = west, = belonging to) located around Sale through to the mountains. * (men belonging to this place which have fire; = men, or = fire, = belonging to) located in

South Gippsland South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promon ...

. * ( = east, = belonging to) located eastwards to the

Snowy River The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the ...

. * ( = sea, = belonging to) located in the coast area between Lake King and

Lake Wellington The Gippsland Lakes are a network of coastal lakes, marshes and lagoons in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an overall area of about between the rural towns of Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale and Sale. The largest of the lakes are ...

. Gunaikurnai dialects have been confused with Muk-thang/ Bidawal; there appear to be two distinct languages here, but it's not clear which variety belongs to which.

Phonology

Like other Victorian languages, Gunaikurnai allowed initial in its words. However, it also allowed initial , and well as the clusters () and (). This is quite unusual for an Australian language, and the same pattern was found in the

Tasmanian languages The Tasmanian languages were the languages indigenous to the island of Tasmania, used by Aboriginal Tasmanians. The languages were last used for daily communication in the 1830s, although the terminal speaker, Fanny Cochrane Smith, survived unt ...

across Bass Strait.

Consonants

Vowels

Revival

Since the early 1990s, the

(VACL) organisation, established the Yirruk-Tinnor Gunnai/Kŭrnai language program which focused on reviving and reclaiming the Gunnai language of Gippsland. Doris Paton, Coordinator of the Program and Lynnette Solomon-Dent, Language worker and consultant are involved in the program. They have been responsible for developing a number of resource materials to support and educate further knowledge of the Gunnai language and Culture. Lynnette Solomon-Dent co-wrote with Christina Eira the VACL Linguist, the

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) is a statutory authority of the Victoria State Government responsible for the provision of curriculum and assessment programs for students in Victoria, Australia. The VCAA is primarily a ...

(VCAA) ''Aboriginal Languages, cultures and reclamation in Victorian schools:'' standards P-10 and protocols and were involved in the VCE Revival and Reclamation Study. These teaching documents and resources are collectively used to educate school aged children P-10, VCE, higher learning institutions and the Aboriginal community members, to further their knowledge and allow community members to continue to educate future generations.

Placenames possibly derived from the Gunaikurnai language

A number of placenames in Gunaikurnai country feature the ending , meaning "place".

References

* * * * * *

Notes

Gippsland languages Extinct languages of Victoria (Australia) {{ia-lang-stub