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| Pitta Pitta | |
|---|---|
| Region | Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Pitapita, Ringaringa, Rakkaia, Karanya, Kungkalenja, Maiawali |
| Native speakers | (3 cited 1979) likely extinct |
| Language family | Pama–Nyungan |
| Dialects |
|
| Signed forms | Pitha Pitha Sign Language |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pit – inclusive codeIndividual code: yxa – Mayawali (Maiawali) |
| Glottolog | pitt1247 Pitta Pitta |
| AIATSIS | G6 Pitta Pitta (other dialects listed from here) |
| ELP | Pitta-Pitta |
Pitta Pitta (also known under several other spellings) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language. It was spoken around Boulia, Queensland.
Status
In 1979, Barry J. Blake reported that Pitta Pitta was "virtually extinct", with only three speakers remaining – Ivy Nardoo of Boulia, Ted Marshall and Linda Craigie of Mount Isa. It is now considered unlikely that any speakers remain.
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Low | a aː |
Consonants
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Velar | Dental | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | ||
| Plosive | p | k | t̪ | c | t | ʈ | |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | n̪ | ɲ | n | ɳ | |
| Lateral | l̪ | ʎ | l | ɭ | |||
| Tap/Trill | ɾ | r | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ɻ | ||||
Vocabulary
Below is a basic vocabulary list from Blake (1981).
English Pitta-Pitta man karna woman parratya mother ngamari father yapiri head karti eye miyi nose milya ear ngarra mouth parla tongue ṯarli tooth mirlka hand mara breast kaputyu stomach ngampa urine purra faeces kuna thigh marla foot ṯina bone pirna blood kimpa dog piyawarli snake kaṯi kangaroo kulipila possum ṯinapali fish kupi spider kupu mosquito kuṉṯi emu warrukatyi eaglehawk kurriṯala crow wakiri sun warlka moon tyangi star tyinpi stone tipu water ngapu camp ngurra fire maka smoke kuṯu food yaṉṯurru meat kaṯi stand ṯarrka sit ṉangka see ṉatyi go karnta get marri hit piṯi I ngantya you inpa one ngururu two parrkula
Pituri
The name pituri for the leaves chewed as a stimulant by traditional Aboriginal people has been claimed to be derived from the Pitta Pitta word pijiri. though Walter Roth pointed out in 1897 that the word 'pituri', thus pronounced, was the term used by the neighbouring Yurlayurlanya people, and added that the Pitta Pitta people called it "tarembola".
Sign language
The Pitta Pitta had well-developed a signed form of their language.
References
- ^ Barry J. Blake (1979). "Pitta-Pitta". In Robert M. W. Dixon & Barry J. Blake (ed.). Handbook of Australian Languages. Vol. 1. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 183–242. ISBN 90-272-0512-4.
- RMW Dixon (2002), Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, p xxxvii
- G6 Pitta Pitta (other dialects listed from here) at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- Crump, Des (17 August 2020). "Language of the Week: Week Twelve - Pitta Pitta". State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- "Pitta Pitta: an extinct language of Australia". Ethnologue. SIL International. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
- Blake, Barry J. (1981). Australian Aboriginal languages: a general introduction. London: Angus & Robertson Publishers. ISBN 0-207-14044-8.
- Philip A. Clarke (2007). "The power of plants". Aboriginal People and their Plants. Rosenberg Publishers. pp. 96–110. ISBN 978-1-877058-51-6.
- Philip A. Clarke (2008). "Making plant names". Aboriginal Plant Collectors: Botanists and Australian Aboriginal People in the Nineteenth Century. Rosenberg Publishers. pp. 42–57. ISBN 978-1-877058-68-4.
- Roth 1897, p. 51.
- Adam Kendon (1988). Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36008-1.
- Blake, Barry J. (1979). Pitta-Pitta. In R.M.W. Dixon and Barry Blake (eds.), Handbook of Australian Languages, Vol. 1. 183–244. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Roth, W. E. (1897). Ethnological Studies among the North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines. Brisbane: Edmund Gregory, Government Printer.
- Roth, Walter E. (1897). The expression of ideas by manual signs: a sign-language. (p. 273–301) Reprinted from Roth, W.E. Ethnological studies among the North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines. London, Queensland Agent-Generals Information Office, 1897; 71–90; Information collected from the following tribes; Pitta-Pitta, Boinji, Ulaolinya, Wonkajera, Walookera, Undekerebina, Kalkadoon, Mitakoodi, Woonamurra, Goa. Reprinted (1978) in Aboriginal sign languages of the Americas and Australia. New York: Plenum Press, vol. 2.
External links
- Bibliography of Pitta Pitta people and language resources, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
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