Ayabadhu (''Ayapathu''), or Badhu, is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
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 the
Paman family spoken on the
Cape York Peninsula
The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...
of
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
by the
Ayapathu people.
The Ayabadhu language region includes the
Cook Shire
The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.
It covers an area ...
and the areas around
Coen and
Port Stewart.
Verstraete and Rigsby (2015) determined that Ayabadhu and Yintyingka, spoken by the
Yintyingka and
Lamalama and previously known as coastal Ayapathu, are closely related and dialects of the same language.
They also found these dialects to be "structurally different" to
Western Ayapathu.
The name ''Yintjinggu''/''Jintjingga'' has been used for both Ayabadhu and the neighboring
Umbindhamu language.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
* Consonants may show gemination
ːwhen in intervocalic position after a stressed initial-syllable with a short vowel.
* Voicing among stops may be heard as
, ɡ, d̪, ɟ, dwhen following nasal sounds, or within the onset of a third syllable in trisyllablic words.
* /t/ may also have a trilled allophone
ʳwithin the onset of a second syllable.
* /w/ may also be heard as a fricative or an approximant within intervocalic positions.
Vocabulary
Some words from the Ayabadhu language, as spelt and written by Ayabadhu authors include:
* ''
'Agu'': land
* ''
'Eka'': head
* ''Kaleny'': uncle
* ''Kangka'': leaf
* ''Ko'on'': magpie goose
* ''Kuche'': two
* ''Mayi'': food
* ''Punga'': sun
* ''Wanthi punga'': good day
References
Wik languages
Extinct languages of Queensland
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