The Paman languages are an Australian language family spoken on

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, ...

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 ...

. First noted by Kenneth Hale, Paman is noteworthy for the profound

phonological Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often prefer ...

changes which have affected some of its descendants.

Classification

Various

classifications Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

of the Paman languages exist. The one outlined below is that of

R. M. W. Dixon Robert Malcolm Ward "Bob" Dixon (born 25 January 1939, in Gloucester, England) is a Professor of Linguistics in the College of Arts, Society, and Education and The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Queensland. He is also Deputy Director ...

, though he does not accept that these branches are necessarily related to each other.See Dixon (2002), pp. xxx–xlii. Geographically, running down the east coast, they are: * North Cape York **

Northern Paman The North Cape York Paman languages are a subdivision of the Paman languages consisting of forty languages, all spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia. The languages are grouped largely according to R. M. W. Dixon. The only ...

** Umpila * Umbindhamu *Lamalamic ** Umbuygamu ** Lamu-Lamu * Yalgawarra *Yalanjic ** Guugu Yimithirr ** Guugu Yalandji ** Barrow Point (>> Wik?) * Mbariman-Gudhinma *

Djabugay The Djabugay people (also known as Djabuganydji or Tjapukai) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, lands and waters of a richly forested part of the Great Dividing Range including ...

Down the west coast, they are: * North Cape York **Northern Paman ** Wik *

Southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

**Upper Southwest Paman ***

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

*** Kuuk Yak ***

Kunjen Kunjen, or Uw, is a Paman languages, Paman language spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, by the Uw Oykangand people, Uw Oykangand, Olkola, and related Aboriginal Australian peoples. It is closely related to Kuuk Thaayorre ...

(incl. Ogh Undjan) **

Yir-Yoront 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 traditiona ...

(incl. Yirrk-Thangalkl) ** Koko-Bera (incl. Gugu Dhaw) * Kok-Nar *Norman Paman **

Kurtjar The Kunggara, also known as Kuritjara, are an indigenous Australian people of the southern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. Language The Kunggara spoke Gurdjar, which had two dialects, ''Gunggara'' and ''Rip.'' Gavan Breen did a salvage stud ...

** Kuthant * Gugadj In the interior, south of Wik, they are: *Thaypan ** Gugu Thaypan (?Rarmul) ** Aghu Tharrnggala **Ikarranggal-Alungul-Angkula *** Ikarranggal *** Alungul *** Angkula ** Takalak *Southern **

Agwamin The Ewamian or Agwamin people are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland. Language The language of Ewamian people, now undergoing revival, is variously known as Agwamin or Wamin. Elder Fred Fulford, as documented by Peter ...

** Mbabaram ** Mbara **

Walangama The Walangama were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland. Language Walangama, now extinct, was one of the Paman languages. William Armit, a local police inspector writing in the 1880s, stated that Walangama differed markedly ...

The name ''

Gugu Mini The Kokomini (''Gugumini'') are reported to have been an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland, though some indications suggest the term may refer to a loose confederation of tribal groups. Name The ethnonym Gugumini means ''go ...

'' means 'good speech', and has been applied to several languages in the Thaypan area. 'Possum language' ''(Koko-Possum, Gugu Yawa)'' is another generic name of this area. The unclassified Marrett River language () was presumably Paman, though distinct from its neighbors, as presumably was Wik Paach (). The

Mayabic languages Mayabic, or Mayi, is a small family of extinct Australian Aboriginal languages of Queensland. They were once classified as Paman, but now as a separate branch of Pama–Nyungan. The languages are: * Mayi-Kutuna, Mayi-Kulan (incl. Mayi-Thaku ...

() to the southwest were once classified as Paman, but have been excluded in Bowern (2011). Alodja may have been another Thaypan / Rarmul Pama language.

Notes

References

: {{Australian Aboriginal languages Indigenous Australian languages in Queensland

Classification

See also

Notes

References