Maran or Maric is an extinct branch of the Pama–Nyungan family of Australian languages formerly spoken throughout much of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

by many of the

Murri people Murri is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians of modern-day Queensland and north-western New South Wales. For some people and organisations, the use of Aboriginal Australian languages, Indigenous language regional terms is an expression of prid ...

s. The well attested Maric languages are clearly related; however, many languages of the area became extinct before much could be documented of them, and their classification is uncertain. The clear Maric languages are: *Maric ** Bidyara (numerous varieties) ** Biri (several varieties) ** Warrungu (& Gugu-Badhun, Gudjal) **( Kingkel?):

Darumbal The Darumbal people, also spelt Darambal and Dharumbal, are the Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally occupied Central Queensland, speaking dialects of the Darumbal language. and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Countr ...

Dharumbal was added by Bowern (2011); it had been classified in the Kingkel branch of Waka–Kabic. It is not clear if the other Kingkel language, Bayali, is also Maric; Bayali and Darumbal are not close.

Unclassified languages

Ngaro and Giya (Bumbarra), spoken on the coast, may also have been Maric, the latter perhaps a dialect of Biri. Of the interior, to the west, Breen (2007) writes of "

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. He is the son of Surya (the Sun deity) and princess Kunti (later ...

–Mari fringe" languages which are "a discontinuous group of languages, mostly poorly attested, scattered between Karnic and Mari languages but not showing much connection with either or with one another. The only one well attested is also the most remote geographically, Kalkutungu". This includes the Ngura languages, several of which belong to the Karnic branch of Pama–Nyungan (such as the Wilson River dialects spoken by the Galali and

Wangkumara The Wanggumara, also spelt Wangkumara, Wongkumara, Wangkumarra, and other variants, are an Aboriginal people of the state of Queensland, Australia. Language Old Wankumara, spoken along the Bulloo River with the Kalali people, was a " Karna� ...

, though not the Bulloo River dialects spoken by the same). However, Bowern (2011) lists the

Badjiri The Badjiri people, also written Budjari or Badyidi, are an Australian Aboriginal people of just north of the Paroo River, close to the southern border of Queensland. They are not to be confused with the Pitjara/Bidjara people of the Warrego ...

variety as Maric. Other poorly attested interior languages which may have been Maric include

Ngaygungu Ngaygungu people (also known as Ngaygungyi, Ngȋ-koongō-ī or Ngai-kungo-i) are the people from the Atherton, Queensland area who spoke, or whose ancestors once spoke, the Ngaygungu language. Range The Ngai-kungo-i were formally identified as ...

(Dixon 2002),

Bindal Bindal may refer to: People *Bindal people, an Indigenous Australian people of the state of North Queensland *Rajeev Bindal, a former minister of health and family welfare in Himachal Pradesh, India *Rajesh Bindal, an Indian judge Places *Bindal M ...

(Bowern 2011),

Barna Barna (Bearna officially and in Irish) is a coastal village on the R336 regional road in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. 7 km west of the centre of Galway city, it has become a satellite village of Galway. The village is Irish speaki ...

(Bowern 2011), Dhungaloo (doubtful in Bowern, not listed at AIATSIS), and

Yirandhali The Yirandhali are an indigenous Australian people, who lived in the area of the present day Shire of Flinders in the state of Queensland. Language Yirandhali may, according to Robert Dixon, belong to the Maric branch of the Pama–Nyungan l ...

(Dixon, Bowern). Yiman near the coast was ethnically Bidjara. Dixon's "Greater Maric" area listed in Bowern (2011) also includes Guwa (Goa) and Yanda. See also

Karnic languages The Karnic languages are a group of languages of the Pama–Nyungan family. According to Dixon (2002), these are three separate families, but Bowern (2001) establishes regular paradigmatic connections among many of the languages, demonstrating ...

for additional varieties from the area.

References

Indigenous Australian languages in Queensland {{ia-lang-stub