Turrbal language

Turrbal is an Aboriginal Australian language of the Turrbal people of the Brisbane area of Queensland.

Turrbal
Yagara
Region	Queensland
Ethnicity	Turrbal
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Durubalic Turrbal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	yxg
Glottolog	yaga1256  Yagara-Jandai
AIATSIS[1]	E86 Turubul, E23 Jagara
ELP	Yagara

Alternate spellings include Turubul, Turrubal, Turrabul, Toorbal, and Tarabul.^[2][3]

Classification

The four dialects listed in Dixon (2002)^[4] are sometimes seen as separate Durubalic languages, especially Jandai and Nunukul; Yagara, Yugarabul, and Turrbul proper are more likely to be considered dialects.^[1][5][6] Turrbal (E86) has been variously classified as a language, group of languages or as a dialect of another language.^[1] F. J. Watson classifies Turrbal (E86) as a sub group of Yugarabul E66, which is most likely the language Yagara E23.^[7] Norman Tindale uses the term Turrbal (E86) to refers to speakers of the language of Yagara E23.^[8] John Steele classifies Turrbal (E86) as a language within the Yagara language group.^[9] R. M. W. Dixon classifies Turrbal as a dialect of the language of Yagera, in the technical linguistic sense where mutually intelligible dialects are deemed to belong to a single language.^[10] Bowern considers Turrbal to be one of five languages of the "Turubulic" language group, the others being Nunukul, Yaraga, Janday and Guwar.^[11]

Phonology

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal	Apical
	Labial	Velar	Palatal	Alveolar
Plosive	b	ɡ	ɟ	d
Nasal	m	ŋ	ɲ	n
Rhotic				r
Lateral				l
Approximant	w		j

• Stop sounds may also be heard as voiceless [p, t, c, k].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

• Vowel length is also distinctive.
• A lax /a/ can also be heard as [ə].^[12][13]

Vocabulary

Some words from the Turrbal / Yagara language include:^{[14][15][16][17]}

• Bigi: sun
• Binung: ear
• Bugwal: wallaby
• Buneen: echidna
• Bangil / bungil: grass
• Buhn: knee
• Buyu: shin
• Deear : teeth
• Dhagun: land
• Dhambur : mouth
• Dharang: leg
• Dhiggeri: belly / stomach
• Dinna: foot
• Dyrrbin: bone
• Gahm: head
• Giga: shoulder
• Gurumba bigi: good day
• Gujah / guttah: snake
• Gagarr / guyurr: fish
• Juhrram: rain
• Juwahduwan / juwahnduwan / juwanbinl: bird(s)
• Killen: finger
• Kundul: canoe
• Marra: hand
• Dumbirrbi / marrambi: koala
• Mil: eye / eyes
• Guruman / murri: kangaroo
• Muru: nose
• Nammul: children
• Nggurrun: neck
• Ngumbi: home / camp
• Tahbil: water (fresh)
• Towan: fish
• Tullei: tree
• Waiyebba: arm
• Wunya: welcome / greetings
• Yilam: forehead

The literary journal Meanjin takes its name from the Turrbal name for the land centred at Gardens Point on which Brisbane was founded.^[18] This name is sometimes used for the greater Brisbane area.^[19][20]

Loanword yakka

The Australian English word yakka, an informal term referring to any work, especially of strenuous kind, comes from a Yagara word yaga, the verb for 'work'.^[21][22]

References

1. E86 Turubul at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
2. "Turrbal Aboriginal Tribe - Traditional Owners of Brisbane". Turrbal. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
3. The Turrbal Association (an incorporated Turrbal association that offers cultural services) uses the spelling "Turrbal" in preference to other spellings.
4. Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. p. xxxiv.
5. "E23: Yuggera". Australian Indigenous Languages Database. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
6. "E66: Yugarabul". Australian Indigenous Languages Database. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
7. Watson, F.J. (1944). Vocabularies of four representative tribes of South Eastern Queensland : with grammatical notes thereof and some notes on manners and customs, also, a list of Aboriginal place names and their derivations. Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (Queensland). Retrieved 22 February 2023.
8. Tindale, Norman (1974). Aboriginal tribes of Australia : their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits, and proper names. University of California Press. ISBN 0520020057.
9. Steele, John (1984). Aboriginal pathways : in southeast Queensland and the Richmond River. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0702219436.
10. Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian languages their nature and development. Cambridge University Press. pp. xxiv, xxxiv. ISBN 0521473780.
11. Bowern, Claire, ed. (2013). The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages. Oxford. pp. lxxxiv. ISBN 9780198824978.
12. Charlton, Kerry (2019). An introduction to the languages of Moreton Bay : Yagarabul and Its Djandewal dialect, and Moreton Islands Gowar.
13. Jefferies, Tony (2011). Guwar, the language of Moreton Island, and its relationship to the Bandjalang and Yagara subgroups: a case for phylogenetic migratory expansion?. University of Queensland.
14. This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Turrubul published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 14 June 2022.
15. This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Jagara published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 14 June 2022.
16. This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Yugarabul published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 14 June 2022.
17. This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Yuggera published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 14 June 2022.
18. "The Old Brisbane Blacks". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. LVIII, no. 13, 623. Queensland, Australia. 10 September 1901. p. 7. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
19. Khan, Jo; Graham-McLay, Charlotte (23 July 2023). "Naarm, Gadigal, Tāmaki Makaurau: Indigenous place names in the spotlight at Women's World Cup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
20. "Meanjin: exploring the Traditional Place name of Brisbane". auspost.com.au. 14 July 2023. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
21. Macquarie Dictionary (19 August 2019). "Good, old-fashioned hard yakka". Macquarie Dictionary. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023.
22. "Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms". Australian National University. Retrieved 26 July 2023.

Further reading

• Indigenous Language Wordlists: Turubul Body Parts, published by State Library of Queensland under CC-BY license, accessed 14 June 2022
• Indigenous Language Wordlists: Yugarabul Body Parts, published by State Library of Queensland under CC-BY license, accessed 14 June 2022
• Indigenous Language Wordlists: Yugara Everyday Words, published by State Library of Queensland under CC-BY license, accessed 14 June 2022

External links

• Yuggera djarra-na - Mission