Yir-Yoront was a Paman language spoken in two settlements,

Kowanyama Kowanyama is a town and coastal locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama, Queensland, Australia. It is the site of the former Mitchell River Mission, founded in 1916, after the nearby Trubanamen Mission (established not far away on Tops ...

and Pormpuraaw on the southwestern part of the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupació ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

in Australia, by the

Yir-Yoront people The Yir-Yoront, also known as the Yir Yiront, are an Indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula now living mostly in Kowanyama (''kawn yamar'' or 'many waters') but also in Lirrqar/Pormpuraaw, both towns outside their traditional ...

. In 1991 only 15 speakers remained,Ethnologue
/ref> with the rest of the Yir-Yoront people speaking

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

or even

Kuuk Thaayorre Kuuk Thaayorre (Thayore) is a Paman language spoken in the settlement Pormpuraaw on the western part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia by the Thaayorre people. As of 2006, 250 of the 350 ethnic Thaayorre speak the language. It ...

as many speakers of Yir-Yoront apparently are using Kuuk Thaayorre in daily conversation. At present it is thought to be extinct.Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version: http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas There are two sister dialects, Yir-Yoront proper and Yirrk-Thangalkl, which are very close. The shared name Yir is sometimes used for both taken together.

Names

The first part of both of the name, ''Yir'', is from the word ''yirrq'' meaning ''speech'' or ''language''. Following is the ethnonym. Yir-Yoront is written

hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes ( figure ...

ated as a way of indicating that the syllable following the hyphen is stressed. In the standard

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...

, it is correctly spelled ''Yirr-Yorront'', with "rr" representing the consonant /r/. There is a valid alternative pronunciation with stress on the first syllable; this can be written ''YirrqYorront''. Other spellings encountered include ''Yir Yoront'' and ''Jir Joront''. Other names for the language include: * Yirr-Thuchm: Meaning ''"from the sandridges"'' * Kok-Minychen: The name of the Yir-Yoront in the

Koko-Bera language Gugubera (Koko Pera), or Kok-Kaper, is a Paman language of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian conti ...

** Koko-Minychena: Alternative spelling ** Kokomindjen: Alternative spelling ** Mandjoen: Alternative spelling ** Mind'jana: Alternative spelling ** Mundjun: Alternative spelling ** Myunduno: Alternative spelling * Kuuk-Thaanhon: The name of the Yir-Yoront in the

Kuuk Thaayorre language Kuuk Thaayorre (Thayore) is a Paman language spoken in the settlement Pormpuraaw on the western part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia by the Thaayorre people. As of 2006, 250 of the 350 ethnic Thaayorre speak the language. It ...

* Gwandera: A name incorrectly applied to the

and their language * Millera: No source available

Phonology

The following description is for Yir-Yoront proper. For another dialect, see

Yirrk-Thangalkl dialect Yirrk-Thangalkl (Yir Thangedl) is a dialect of Yir-Yoront, a Paman language spoken on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, by the Yirrk-Thangalkl people. The language is also known as ''Yirr-Thangell'' an ...

Vowels

Yir-Yoront has 6

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...

Consonants

Yir-Yoront has 20

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wi ...

Sign language

The Yir Yoront have (or had) a well-developed signed form of their language. Kendon, A. (1988) ''Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press It may have had some influence in the broader

Far North Queensland Indigenous Sign Language Indigenous Sign Language (ISL) is an emerging contact language used by aboriginal deaf people in urban centers of Far North Queensland (Cape York Peninsula) such as Cairns.Suzannah Jackson, 2015'Indigenous Sign Language of Far North Queensland' ' ...

, though it may have gone extinct too early for that.

External links

Paradisec The Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) is a cross-institutional project that supports work on endangered languages and cultures of the Pacific and the region around Australia. They digitise reel- ...

has language materials for Yir Yoront as part of the

Arthur Capell Arthur Capell (28 March 1902 – 10 August 1986) was an Australian linguist, who made major contributions to the study of Australian languages, Austronesian languages and Papuan languages. Early life Capell was born in Newtown, New South Wales ...

collection (AC1) and the Barry Alpher collection
BA1

References

Notes

General

: {{Pama–Nyungan languages, Paman Southwestern Paman languages Extinct languages of Queensland Indigenous Australian languages in Queensland