Yankunytjatjara language

Yankunytjatjara (also Yankuntatjara, Jangkundjara, Kulpantja) is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Wati languages, belonging to the large South-West branch of the Pama-Nyungan family. It is one of the many varieties of the Western Desert Language, all of which are mutually intelligible.

Dialects

Yankunytjatjara is one of the many dialects of the Western Desert language and is very similar to the better known and more widely spoken Pitjantjatjara^[1]. Young speakers of Yankunytjatjara often borrow words from English and also from Pitjantjatjara (which has expanded eastwards into Yankunytjatjara country and beyond), according to a study carried out mainly in Coober Pedy where many speakers of both varieties reside (although the town is on what was traditionally Arabana lands).^[2] Yankunytjatjara shows some variation across its range with, for example, Northern Yankunytjatjara sharing features with Southern Luritja.^[3]

Naming

The name used for Yankunytjatjara (and for Pitjantjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, and others) is relative, being based on a single prominent word which distinguishes it from its near neighbour Pitjantjatjara. The latter has pitjantja (in the present tense pitjanyi) for 'coming/going' while Yankunytjatjara has yankunyta (present tense yananyi). The ending -tjara is the comitative suffix and means 'having'. Thus Yankunytjatjara means 'to have yankunytja ' as opposed to Pitjantjatjara which has pitjantja.^[3]

Alternatively, the northernmost Yankunytjatjara and parts of Southern Luritja both have the word maṯu 'true' and so are sometimes grouped together as Maṯutjara to contrast with the Southern Yankunytjatjara who use mula for 'true' and so can be referred to as Mulatjara.^[3]

Location

Yankunytjatjara is found in the north-west of South Australia and is one of the most easterly of the Western Desert dialects, being spoken around the communities of Mimili, Indulkana and Fregon and across to Oodnadatta and Coober Pedy (although this latter is not on traditional Yankunytjatjara land).^[3]

Vitality

There seems to be no exhaustive evidence on the vitality of Yankunytjatjara. However McConvell & Thieberger^[2] found Yankunytjatjara to be endangered based mainly on the Census of 1996. In 2005 the National Indegenous Language Survey, based on a more comprehensive survey, concluded that Yankunytjatjara was ‘definitely endangered’.^[4] Naessan, using the 2003 UNESCO framework, gave a mark of 22/23 out of 35 (in its most condensed spot), quite a low score. If some factors that Naessan feels are unimportant in most indigenous languages are ignored, Yankunytjatjara scores 14/15 out of 20 (in it’s densest area). However he argues that since recent surveys have included these factors, to include them may be more helpful for cross referencing. To a lesser extent he feels that since Western Desert people own some media sources (radio station etc.) we would want these factors included. He concludes a 57-65% vitality. Either schema we use finds that Yankunytjatjara shows symptoms of endangerment (how endangered can be argued) which agrees with the Yankunytjatjara elders that Naessan spoke with as well as the assessments of most linguists who have worked in the area.

External links

• Ethnologue report for language code:kdd

Notes