Thawa language

Thawa^{[note 1]} is a nearly extinct Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales with only very few speakers including certain local elders. It is sometimes classified with Dyirringany as a dialect of Southern Coastal Yuin, though it is not clear how close the two varieties actually were.^[1]

Thawa
Region	New South Wales, Australia
Ethnicity	Thawa
Extinct	Nearly
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Yuin–Kuric Yuin Tharawal Southern Coastal Yuin? Thawa
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xtv
Glottolog	None sout2771  included in Southern Coastal Yuin
AIATSIS[1]	S52

In 2015 local Yuin people collaborated with the Tathra Public School in Tathra to create a new app as a teaching aid for both Thawa and the Dhurga language, using old audio recordings of elders as well as documentation created by early explorers and settlers in the region. One of the major contributors to the project, Graham Moore, has also written an Aboriginal language book.^[2]

Notes

1. Sometimes spelt Thaua, Dhawa, Thauaira, and other variations.

References

1. S52 Thawa at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
2. Brown, Bill (16 October 2015). "Yuin elders develop 'message stick' app to teach almost-lost Aboriginal language". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 June 2021.