The Dhurga language, also written Thurga, is an
Australian Aboriginal language
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
of
New South Wales. It is a language of the
Yuin people, specifically the
Wandandian
The Wandandian are an Aboriginal Australian people of the South Coast of New South Wales with connections to the Yuin and Tharawal nations.
Country
The Wandandian lands extended over an estimated from Ulladulla to the Shoalhaven River and Now ...
and
Walbunja groups, but there have been no fluent speakers officially recorded for decades, so it has been
functionally extinct for some time. Efforts have been made to revive the language since the 2010s.
Description
The language is
tonal, and spoken in the
Nowra-
Jervis Bay area southwards to
Narooma
Narooma is a town in the Australian state of New South Wales on the far south coast. The town is on the Princes Highway, which crosses the Wagonga Inlet to North Narooma. The heritage town of Central Tilba is nearby to the south.
The name Naro ...
, and possibly as far south as
Wallaga Lake. Dharumba and Walbanga/Walbjunja may have been dialects.
Status and revival
No speakers of the language have been officially recorded since before 1975.
[
In 2015 local Yuin people collaborated with the Tathra Public School in Tathra to create a new ]app
App, Apps or APP may refer to:
Computing
* Application software
* Mobile app, software designed to run on smartphones and other mobile devices
* Web application or web app, software designed to run inside a web browser
* Adjusted Peak Performan ...
as a teaching aid for both Dhurga and the Thaua language, using old audio recordings of elders as well as documentation created by early explorers and settlers in the region. One of the major contributors to the project, Graham Moore, has also written an Aboriginal language book.
Staff of Vincentia High School, led by Gary Worthy, have carried out research into Aboriginal languages and run community workshops since 2004, and a dedicated languages team teaches the Dhurga language.
Bermagui Public School, a primary school in Bermagui, has taught local Aboriginal languages including Dhurga and the Djiringanj language, along with the associated cultures, since 2019.
References
Tharawal languages
Extinct languages of New South Wales
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