The Paakantyi language, also spelt Paakantji, Barkindji, Barkandji, and Baagandji, and is also known as the Darling language, is a nearly extinct
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
Aboriginal language spoken along the
Darling River
The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...
in
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
from the present-day Queensland border to
Bourke, then along the river to
Wentworth. It includes much of the backcountry around the
Paroo River
The Paroo River, a series of waterholes, connected in wet weather as a running stream of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the South West region of Queensland and Far West region of New South Wales, Aust ...
, plus an area along
Coopers Creek into Queensland and also through the
Broken Hill
Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...
district.
The name of the people and the language refers to the ''Paaka'' (Darling River, known today as the Darling-Barka). The suffix ''-ntyi'' means "belonging to".
[Luise Hercus. ''Baagandji Grammar'', ANU 1960; ''Paakantyi Dictionary'' (published with the assistance of ]AIATSIS
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...
, 1993) Speakers of the language are known as the
Paakantyi
The Paakantyi, or Barkindji or Barkandji, are an Australian Aboriginal tribal group of the Darling River (known to them as the Baaka) basin in Far West New South Wales, Australia.
Name
The ethnonym Paakantyi means "River people", formed from ...
(or variant spellings). The variant is slightly different along the river proper and ceases at the confluence of the Darling-Barka and the Murray rivers.
The major work on the Paakantyi language has been by linguist
Luise Hercus
Luise Anna Hercus , , (16 January 1926 – 15 April 2018) was a German-born linguist who lived in Australia from 1954. After significant early work on Middle Indo-Aryan dialects (Prakrits) she had specialised in Australian Aboriginal languages si ...
.
[Luise Hercus. ''Baagandji Grammar'', ANU 1960; ''Paakantyi Dictionary'' (published with the assistance of ]AIATSIS
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...
, 1993)
Dialects
Dialects of Paakantyi include Southern Paakantyi (Baagandji, Bagundji), Kurnu (Kula), Wilyakali (Wiljagali), and
Pantyikali-Wanyiwalku (Wanyuparlku, Bandjigali, Baarundji), Parrintyi (Barrindji) and Marawara (Maraura). Bowern (2011) lists Gurnu/Guula as a separate language, though Hercus includes it because of its almost identical vocabulary. Dixon adds several other names, some perhaps synonyms;
Bulaali (Bulali) may have been an alternative name for Wilyakali, but also for a different language,
Maljangapa.
However Tindale (1940) mapped the 'Rite of Circumcision' border around Wanyiwalku, separating it from the rest of Paakantyi. Tindale instead grouped Wanyiwalku with Maljangapa, Wadikali and Karenggapa of the
Yarli language
Yarli (Yardli) was a dialect cluster of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northwestern New South Wales and into Northeastern South Australia individually Malyangapa (Maljangapa), Yardliyawara, and Wadikali (Wardikali, Wadigali). B ...
.
Current status
A 2012 report indicated that two people could speak the Darling language fluently, while in the 2021 census, 111 individuals said they spoke Paakantyi at home.
Phonology
Consonants
Voiceless stops can also be heard as voiced
, d̪, d, ɟ, ɖ, ɡ
Vowels
References
External links
Bibliography of Paakantyi language and people resources at the
Paakantyi language, alphabet and pronunciation25 Paakantyi words every muurpa should know
{{Aboriginal South Australians
Pama–Nyungan languages
Endangered indigenous Australian languages in New South Wales
Critically endangered languages