101-467: Kalau Lagau Ya , Kalaw Lagaw Ya , Kala Lagaw Ya ( [kala(u) laɡau ja] ), or the Western Torres Strait language (also several other names, see below ) is the language indigenous to the central and western Torres Strait Islands , Queensland , Australia . On some islands, it has now largely been replaced by Torres Strait Creole . Before colonization in the 1870s–1880s, the language
202-565: A land bridge known as the Arafura Plain which connected the present-day Australian continent with New Guinea (in a single landmass called Sahul , Meganesia , Australia-New Guinea ). This land bridge was most recently submerged by rising sea levels at the end of the last ice-age glaciation approximately 12,000 years ago, forming the Strait which now connects the Arafura and Coral seas. Many of
303-560: A complicated gender system, diverge from it. Proto-Pama–Nyungan may have been spoken as recently as about 5,000 years ago, much more recently than the 40,000 to 60,000 years indigenous Australians are believed to have been inhabiting Australia . How the Pama–Nyungan languages spread over most of the continent and displaced any pre-Pama–Nyungan languages is uncertain; one possibility is that language could have been transferred from one group to another alongside culture and ritual . Given
404-557: A deep-level relationship dating back to before the flooding of Torres Strait at the end of the last age, as claimed by Mitchell or they could point to genetic inheritance and subsequent language contact, as discussed by Alpher, Bowern, and O'Grady 2009. A comparison of the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Meriam Mìr, Kiwai and Uradhi personal pronouns show similarities and differences in typology . In comparison to Uradhi, Kalaw Lagaw Ya has an archaic typology — or, rather, Uradhi has innovated, having lost
505-487: A habitat for numerous birds , including the Torresian imperial-pigeon , which is seen as the iconic national emblem to the islanders. These islands are also a distinct physiographic section of the larger Cape York Platform province , which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Cordillera physiographic division . The islands in this cluster lie very close to the southwestern coastline of New Guinea (the closest
606-577: A long period of time, the Austronesians being culturally a superstratum , however not in a position to impose their language. He presented folk history evidence that a few Austronesian traders (men) settled at Parema (north-east of Daru) and married local [Proto–Trans Fly speaking] women. To avoid further miscegenation, they soon moved and settled in Torres Strait, first to the Eastern Islands, then to
707-475: A mid- Holocene expansion of Pama–Nyungan from the Gulf Plains of northeastern Australia. Pama–Nyungan languages generally share several broad phonotactic constraints: single-consonant onsets, a lack of fricatives, and a prohibition against liquids (laterals and rhotics) beginning words. Voiced fricatives have developed in several scattered languages, such as Anguthimri , though often the sole alleged fricative
808-569: A process of electing island councils, intended to loosen the power of missionaries in the islands. They had become powerful by default because the government did not have resources to administer the territory. In the Western islands, where the traditional lifestyle was semi- nomadic , the council system continued to thrive. During World War II , many Torres Strait Islanders served in the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion of
909-440: A significant number, mainly men, who spoke a South-East Papuan Austronesian language, accompanied by their Papuan wives and their perhaps bilingual children. Over time, the core structure of the local mothers' language dominated, with retention of the newcomers' Papuo-Austronesian content in the appropriate cultural subsystems. In essence this would have been a 'replay' of the original settlement by Austronesian traders at Parema, with
1010-573: A single body to form a Torres Strait Island Regional Council, or Torres Strait Island Region , created by the Queensland Government in the interest of financial viability, and accountability and transparency of local governments throughout the State. It is administered from Thursday Island , but Thursday, Horn Island , Prince of Wales Island and many others are under the Shire of Torres council. In
1111-419: A width of approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) at its narrowest point; the islands lie scattered in between, extending some 200 to 300 kilometres (120 to 190 mi) from furthest east to furthest west. The total land area of the islands comprises 566 km (219 sq mi). 21,784 hectares (53,830 acres) of land are used for agricultural purposes. The Torres Strait itself was previously part of
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#17328484632331212-429: Is /ɣ/ and is analysed as an approximant /ɰ/ by other linguists. An exception is Kala Lagaw Ya , which acquired both fricatives and a voicing contrast in them and in its plosives from contact with Papuan languages . Several of the languages of Victoria allowed initial /l/ , and one— Gunai —also allowed initial /r/ and consonant clusters /kr/ and /pr/ , a trait shared with the extinct Tasmanian languages across
1313-541: Is Yagar Yagar , from the word yagar ( yá 'speech, etc.' + gár 'sympathy clitic' ('dear', 'please', etc.), often used by Western and Central Islanders in speech to show a sympathetic or nostalgic frame of mind. In literature on the language the abbreviations KLY (Kalaw Lagaw Ya), KKY (Kalau Kawau Ya), KulY (Kulkalgau Ya), MY (Muwalgau Ya) and KY (Kaiwaligau Ya) are often used as abbreviations. The name Mabuiag /mabujaɡ/ , in English pronounced / ˈ m oʊ b i æ ɡ / ,
1414-682: Is kùlbai (KKY kùlba ) 'old', which may be a metathetic realisation of CA *bulgan 'big; old'. Potentially 80% of the vocabulary of the language is non-Australian, and includes Papuan and Austronesian items. Bouckaert, Bowern and Atkinson (2018) found that Kalaw Lagaw Ya had the highest number of 'unique' (that is, non-Pama-Nyungan) forms of any Australian language in their sample. Oral tradition and cultural evidence recorded by Haddon and Laade, backed by archaeological evidence and linguistic evidence, shows that Austronesian trade and settlement in South-West Papua, Torres Strait and Cape York occurred;
1515-559: Is 67 kilometres (42 mi) west of Boigu, the nearest of the Top Western islands. The islands in this cluster lie south of the Strait's midway point, and are also largely high granite hills with mounds of basaltic outcrops, formed from old peaks of the now submerged land bridge. Moa (Banks Island) is the second-largest in the Torres Strait, and Badu (Mulgrave Island) is slightly smaller and fringed with extensive mangrove swamps. Other smaller islands include Mabuiag , Pulu and further to
1616-560: Is Australian in both form and grammar — though a certain amount of the grammar is common to Trans-Fly and Paman languages in the first place. Some semantic categories, verb number morphology, and some other morphology are non-Australian in origin. Potentially 80% of its vocabulary is non-Australian. The interplay of the above within the subsystems of Kalaw Lagaw Ya lexicon, phonology and grammar points more to mixing through shift and borrowing rather than pidginisation and creolisation. The language also has some vocabulary from languages outside
1717-435: Is Austronesian. Kalaw Lagaw Ya has only 6% cognation with its closest Australian neighbour, Urradhi , with a further 5% 'common' vocabulary (loans of various origins) — and about 40% common vocabulary with its Papuan neighbour, Meriam Mìr . Of 279 Proto- Paman forms only 18.9% have definite realisations in Kalaw Lagaw Ya, with a further 2.5% which may be present. One word that illustrates the problems of 'may-be' relationship
1818-461: Is a smaller island with steep hills, composed largely of granite . This island actually represents the northernmost extent of the Great Dividing Range , the extensive series of mountain ranges which runs along almost the entire eastern coastline of Australia. This peak became an island as the ocean levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The isolated and uninhabited Deliverance Island
1919-703: Is fairly prevalent on Badu and neighbouring Moa . The language is known by several names besides Kalaw Lagaw Ya , most of which (including Kalaw Lagaw Ya ) are names of dialects, spelling variants, dialect variants and the like — and include translations of the English terms, Western Island Language and Central Island Language : Kalaw Lagaw Ya / Kalau Lagau Ya / Kala Lagaw Ya Kalaw Kawaw Ya / Kalau Kawau Ya Kala Lagaw Langgus / Kala Lagau Langgus / Kalaw Lagaw Langgus / Kalau Lagau Langgus Langgus Linggo Westen West Torres Western Torres Strait Dhadhalagau Ya Sentral / Central Islands One term used by Eastern Islanders and neighbouring Papuans for Kala Lagaw Ya
2020-524: Is fairly widespread as a name for the language, this having been established by the Cambridge Expedition to Torres Strait, whose main research on the language was with Mabuiag material. Though the preferred term in English in Academia for some time was Kala Lagaw Ya , according to Ober, the form was always regarded as "colloquial" by native speakers. In a High Court decision on 7 August 2013, the decision
2121-591: Is less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) offshore). Saibai (one of the largest of the Torres Strait Islands) and Boigu (one of the Talbot Islands ) are low-lying islands which were formed by deposition of sediments and mud from New Guinean rivers into the Strait accumulating on decayed coral platforms. Vegetation on these islands mainly consists of mangrove swamps, and they are prone to flooding. The other main island in this group, Dauan (Mt Cornwallis),
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#17328484632332222-499: Is some folk history evidence that the language was spoken as a first language in a few villages neighbouring Torres Strait in Papua. It was also formerly spoken by the Hiámo (Hiámu, Hiáma) of Daru (Dhaaru) to the north-east of Torres Strait, who were originally settlers from Yama [Yam Island] in Torres Strait, Hiámu/Hiámo/Hiáma being a Kiwai pronunciation of Yama. The main body of the Hiámo moved to
2323-624: Is spoken by most Torres Strait Islanders and is a mixture of Standard Australian English and traditional indigenous languages. It is an English-based creole; however, each island has its own version of creole. Torres Strait Creole is also spoken on the Australian mainland , including in the Northern Peninsula Area Region and coastal communities such as Cairns , Townsville , Mackay , Rockhampton and Brisbane . Pama%E2%80%93Nyungan languages The Pama–Nyungan languages are
2424-537: Is the last in the following table, which is commonly used instead of the traditional words imi 'spouse's opposite-sex sibling', 'opposite sex sibling's spouse' and ngaubath 'spouse's same-sex sibling', 'same-sex sibling's spouse'. These have also similarly been replaced in common usage by the English loan woman (pronounced [woman] ) in the meaning of 'sister/daughter-in-law'. Other biblical loans are from Ancient Greek , Latin and Biblical Hebrew : Two early English loans of interest show back formation from what in
2525-440: Is used to refer to speaking in a language, e.g. KKY markaidh muliz 'speak [in] English', zapanisadh muliz 'speak [in] Japanese', dhaudhalgadh muliz 'speak [in] Papuan', mœyamadh muliz 'speak [in] Meriam Mìr', thanamudh muliz 'speak like them, speak [in] their language'. It is otherwise common for speakers to use nominal phrases like KLY/KulY ngalpun ya , MY-KY ngalpun/ngalpan ya , KKY ngalpan ya 'our language' to refer to
2626-457: The Lower Burdekin languages . A few more inclusive groups that have been proposed, such as Northeast Pama–Nyungan (Pama–Maric), Central New South Wales , and Southwest Pama–Nyungan , appear to be geographical rather than genealogical groups. Bowern & Atkinson (2012) use computational phylogenetics to calculate the following classification: According to Nicholas Evans ,
2727-595: The 2016 census , the population of the Torres Strait Islands was 4,514, of whom 4,144 (91.8%) were Torres Strait Islanders . These inhabitants live on only 14 of the 274 islands. For comparison, people identifying themselves as of Torres Strait Islander descent living in the whole of Australia numbered 32,345, while those of both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal descent numbered a further 26,767. The islands span an area of some 48,000 km (19,000 sq mi). The strait from Cape York to New Guinea has
2828-666: The Australian Army . It is the only Australian Army unit to have been formed out of indigenous Australians. From 1960 to 1973, Margaret Lawrie captured some of the Torres Strait Islander people's culture by recording their recounting of local myths and legends. Her anthropological work, stored at the State Library of Queensland , has recently been recognised and registered with the Australian UNESCO Memory of
2929-597: The Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (previously under the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs ). Thursday Island functions as the administrative centre of the islands. The TSRA now represents the local communities at both Commonwealth and State levels; previously, State representation operated via a Queensland statutory authority called
3030-869: The Government of Queensland to specific Islander and Aboriginal Councils under the provisions of the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 and the Community Services (Aboriginal) Act 1984 ), consisting of: This shows the localities of the Torres Strait Islands in alphabetical order. (2016 Census) km Politicians who have declared support for independence, include Bob Katter and former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh , who in August 2011 wrote to Prime Minister Julia Gillard in support of Torres Strait Islands independence from Australia ; Prime Minister Gillard said in October 2011 "her government will respectfully consider
3131-645: The Queensland Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia , the latter court found that the Mer people had owned their land prior to annexation by Queensland. This ruling overturned the long-established legal doctrine of terra nullius ("no-one's land"), which held that native title over Crown land in Australia had been extinguished at the time of annexation. The ruling thus has had far-reaching significance for
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3232-656: The Torres Strait in 1606. Torres had joined the expedition of Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , which sailed west from Peru across the Pacific Ocean, in search of Terra Australis . Lieutenant James Cook first claimed British sovereignty in 1770 over the eastern part of Australia at Possession Island , calling it New South Wales in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third. British administrative control did not begin until 1862 in
3333-508: The Torres Strait , a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea . They span an area of 48,000 km (19,000 sq mi), but their total land area is 566 km (219 sq mi). The Islands are inhabited by the indigenous Torres Strait Islanders . Lieutenant James Cook first claimed British sovereignty over the eastern part of Australia at Possession Island in 1770, but British administrative control only began in
3434-545: The comparative method . In his last published paper from the same collection, Ken Hale describes Dixon's scepticism as an erroneous phylogenetic assessment which is "so bizarrely faulted, and such an insult to the eminently successful practitioners of Comparative Method Linguistics in Australia, that it positively demands a decisive riposte." In the same work Hale provides unique pronominal and grammatical evidence (with suppletion) as well as more than fifty basic-vocabulary cognates (showing regular sound correspondences) between
3535-471: The mother of pearl as decoration, started in earnest in the 1860s. By the 1890s, the islands were supplying more than 50 per cent of the world's pearl shells. The London Missionary Society (LMS) mission, led by Rev. Samuel Macfarlane, arrived on Erub (Darnley Island) on 1 July 1871. After the Anglican Church took over their mission in the 20th century, they referred to the events as " The Coming of
3636-477: The Australian phonology and syntax profoundly. The contrast of Australian laminal nh/ny and lh/ly and apical n and l has been lost, voicing has become phonemic and s , z , t , d , o and òò have developed. This also affected the phonology of Australian vocabulary, where these 'foreign' sounds also occur. The non-Australian content appears to be mainly lexicon (including verbs), particularly dealing with
3737-580: The Bass Strait. At the time of the European arrival in Australia, there were some 300 Pama–Nyungan languages divided across three dozen branches. What follows are the languages listed in Bowern (2011b) and Bowern (2012) ; numbers in parentheses are the numbers of languages in each branch. These vary from languages so distinct they are difficult to demonstrate as being in the same branch, to near-dialects on par with
3838-500: The Central Islands, then to Moa , Badu and Mabuiag . At Mabuiag, Badu and Moa they found Aboriginal people, killed the men and kept the women (and presumably the children). Some moved on up to Saibai, Dœwan and Bœigu to avoid this new miscegenation, hence the lighter colour of many Saibai, Dœwan and Bœigu people. Bœigu folk history collected by Laade also shows direct East Austronesian genetic influence on Bœigu. The social context
3939-537: The Common Australian 1, 2 and 3 plurals. Kiwai does not have 1–2 pronouns, while Meriam Mìr does not have a dual and trial/paucal set of pronouns which correspond to its verb system. The Kalaw Lagaw Ya system, like that of Uradhi, is Australian: Note that except for Meriam Mìr, the Trans Fly languages also have two-gender masculine-feminine systems, though not marked on the pronouns themselves. However, even though
4040-546: The Eastern Torres Language Meriam Mir . Yumplatok (also known as Torres Strait Creole and Broken) is a contemporary Torres Strait Island language spoken in the Torres Strait . The contact with missionaries, traders and other English speakers since the 19th century led to the development of a pidgin language . It developed more fully as a creole language , with its own distinctive sound system, grammar, vocabulary, usage and meaning. Torres Strait Creole
4141-615: The Island Coordinating Council (ICC). The Torres Strait Island Region local government area superseded the ICC in March 2008. In March 2008, fifteen Torres Strait Islander Councils were amalgamated into a single body to form a Torres Strait Island Regional Council, or Torres Strait Island Region , created by the Queensland Government in the interest of financial viability, and accountability and transparency of local Governments throughout
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4242-626: The Italaig of the south, and the Muwalaig of the north. Many Kauraraig also live there, having been forcibly moved there in 1922–1923. Badu and Mabuiag are the Maluigal Deep Sea People . These islands, also known as the Thursday Island group, lie closest to Cape York Peninsula, and their topography and geological history is very similar. Muralag (Prince of Wales Island) is the largest of
4343-537: The Light ", and established an annual celebration on 1 July. In 1872, the boundary of Queensland was extended to include Thursday Island and other islands in Torres Strait within 60 miles of the Queensland coast. In June 1875, a measles epidemic killed about 25% of the population, with some islands suffering losses of up to 80%, as the islanders had no natural immunity to European diseases. In 1879, Queensland annexed
4444-587: The New Guinea coast. In 1898–1899, the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition led by Alfred Cort Haddon visited the Torres Strait Islands. Among its members was W. H. R. Rivers , who later gained notability for his work in psychology and treating officers in the Great War. They collected and took about 2000 cultural artefacts, ostensibly to save them from destruction by missionaries. But all of
4545-497: The Papuan coast). Some basic vocabulary, terminology dealing with agriculture, canoes, the weather, the sky and the sea, some abstract nouns, some verbs. Possibly some grammar in the form of function words, such as waadh (KKY waaza ) 'existential emphasis' (i.e. 'it is true that ... '), Proto Oceanic Austronesian *waDa 'existential'. The Australian word forms and structure found in Kalaw Lagaw Ya appear to be retentions, i.e. inherited;
4646-538: The Proto-Northern-and-Middle Pamic (pNMP) family of the Cape York Peninsula on the Australian northeast coast and Proto-Ngayarta of the Australian west coast, some 3,000 km apart (as well as from many other languages), to support the Pama–Nyungan grouping, whose age he compares to that of Proto-Indo-European . Bowern offered an alternative to Dixon's binary phylogenetic-tree model based in
4747-601: The State. It is administered from Thursday Island , but Thursday, Horn Island , Prince of Wales Island and many others are under the Shire of Torres council. At the local level, there are two authorities. One is the Shire of Torres , which governs several islands and portions of Cape York Peninsula and operates as a Queensland local government area . The other is the Torres Strait Island Region , created in 2008, which embodies 15 former island councils. These former councils had been previously relinquished by
4848-473: The Strait's islands, and forms the centre of this closely grouped cluster. The much smaller Waiben Thursday Island is the region's administrative centre and most heavily populated. Several of these islands have permanent freshwater springs, and some were also mined for gold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Because of their proximity to the Australian mainland, they have also been centres of pearling and fishing industries. Nurupai Horn Island holds
4949-626: The Thursday Island group to escape the Kiwai colonisation of Daru some centuries ago. The language is classified as being part of the Pama–Nyungan languages . Mitchell regard it as a mixed language with an Australian core (Pama–Nyungan) and Papuan and Austronesian overlays, while Capell and Dixon classify it among the Papuan languages . The personal pronouns are typically Australian, most kin terms are Papuan, and significant sea/canoe and agricultural vocabulary
5050-606: The Torres Strait Islands in 1862. The islands are now mostly part of Queensland , a constituent State of the Commonwealth of Australia , but are administered by the Torres Strait Regional Authority , a statutory authority of the Australian federal government . A few islands very close to the coast of mainland New Guinea belong to the Western Province of Papua New Guinea , most importantly Daru Island with
5151-543: The Torres Strait Islands, marked by the appointment of John Jardine, police magistrate at Rockhampton , as Government Resident in the Torres Straits. He originally established a small settlement on Albany Island , but on 1 August 1864 he settled at Somerset Island. Although the Torres Strait Islanders had long dived for pearl shells themselves, the international industry of pearl and trochus shells, for using
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#17328484632335252-621: The Torres Strait area, from the Indonesian , Malay , Philippine, English and other 'outsiders'. Where loan words from the Western Austronesian (Indonesian, etc.) loans are concerned, it is possible that some such came into the language in pre-European contact days, with the Makassans and similar fishermen/traders who visited northern Australia and Torres Strait. Examples of post-European contact Western Austronesian loan words: Some words in
5353-594: The Torres Strait's request for self-government". Other figures who have supported independence include Australian Indigenous rights campaigner Eddie Mabo . Torres Strait Islander peoples, the indigenous peoples of the islands, are predominantly Melanesians, culturally most akin to the coastal peoples of Papua New Guinea . Thus, they are regarded as being distinct from Aboriginal peoples of Australia and are generally referred to separately, despite ongoing historical trade and inter-marriage with mainland Aboriginal people. There are also two Torres Strait Islander communities on
5454-498: The Trans-Fly languages; the forms in Kalaw Lagaw Ya are clearly Australian. Some basic and abstract vocabulary, some verbs. Some grammar, such as verb number and different stems for different number forms of some verbs. Use of state/movement verbs as existential and stative 'be' verbs. Two non-personal pronominals: naag/naga 'how', namuith 'when' (both in KKY, the dialect of the islands off
5555-595: The World Programme . The proximity of the islands to Papua New Guinea became an issue when the territory started moving to gain independence from Australia, which it gained in 1975. The Papua New Guinea government objected to the position of the border close to the New Guinean mainland, and the subsequent complete control that Australia exercised over the waters of the strait. The Torres Strait Islanders opposed being separated from Australia and insisted on no change to
5656-626: The ancestors of the Kowrareg (the Hiámo) originally came from Dharu (Daru, to the north east of Torres Strait) — and who had previously settled on Dharu from Yama in Central Torres Strait. They cut down a big tree earlier today to make a canoe. Underlying form: Thana+∅ They PL + NOM kayiba∅ today kœi big puuRi+∅ Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in
5757-567: The artefacts collected by Samuel Macfarlane were sold in London, mostly to European museums. In 1904, the peoples of the Torres Strait Islands were made subject to the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 , which gave draconian powers to the Queensland government in placing legal restrictions on natives and on their land use. In 1899, John Douglas had initiated
5858-405: The border. The Australian Federal government wished to cede the northern islands to appease Papua New Guinea, but were opposed by the Queensland government and Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen . An agreement was struck in 1978 whereby the islands and their inhabitants remained Australian, but the maritime boundary between Australia and Papua New Guinea was defined as running through
5959-495: The central inland portions of the continent do Pama–Nyungan languages remain spoken vigorously by the entire community. The Pama–Nyungan family was identified and named by Kenneth L. Hale , in his work on the classification of Native Australian languages. Hale's research led him to the conclusion that of the Aboriginal Australian languages, one relatively closely interrelated family had spread and proliferated over most of
6060-462: The centre of the strait. In practice the two countries co-operate closely in the management of the strait's resources. In 1982, Eddie Mabo and four other Torres Strait Islander people from Mer (Murray Island) started legal proceedings to establish their traditional land ownership. Because Mabo was the first-named plaintiff, it became known as the Mabo Case . In 1992, after ten years of hearings before
6161-519: The closest relative of Pama–Nyungan is the Garawan language family , followed by the small Tangkic family. He then proposes a more distant relationship with the Gunwinyguan languages in a macro-family he calls Macro-Pama–Nyungan . However, this has yet to be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the linguistic community. In his 1980 attempt to reconstruct Proto-Australian, R. M. W. Dixon reported that he
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#17328484632336262-587: The continent of Australia are often referred to, by exclusion, as non-Pama–Nyungan languages, though this is not a taxonomic term. The Pama–Nyungan family accounts for most of the geographic spread, most of the Aboriginal population, and the greatest number of languages. Most of the Pama–Nyungan languages are spoken by small ethnic groups of hundreds of speakers or fewer. Many languages, either due to disease or elimination of their speakers, have become extinct, and almost all remaining ones are endangered in some way. Only in
6363-434: The continent, while approximately a dozen other families were concentrated along the North coast. Evans and McConvell describe typical Pama–Nyungan languages such as Warlpiri as dependent-marking and exclusively suffixing languages which lack gender, while noting that some non-Pama–Nyungan languages such as Tangkic share this typology and some Pama–Nyungan languages like Yanyuwa , a head-marking and prefixing language with
6464-614: The differences between the Scandinavian languages . Down the east coast, from Cape York to the Bass Strait , there are: Continuing along the south coast, from Melbourne to Perth: Up the west coast: Cutting inland back to Paman, south of the northern non-Pama–Nyungan languages, are Encircled by these branches are: Separated to the north of the rest of Pama–Nyungan is Some of inclusions in each branch are only provisional, as many languages became extinct before they could be adequately documented. Not included are dozens of poorly attested and extinct languages such as Barranbinja and
6565-424: The east Naghir (correct form Nagi , aka Mount Ernest Island). Culturally this was the most complex part of Torres Strait, containing three of the four groupings/dialects of the Western-central Islanders, Nagi being culturally/linguistically a Central Island (Kulkalaig territory, specifically part of Waraber tribal waters), Moa is part of the Muwalaig-Italaig-Kaiwalaig [Kauraraig/Kaurareg] tribal areas, with two groups,
6666-449: The fathers' language, particularly in areas that were culturally important for the fathers. These people then shifted to Torres Strait — maintaining established ties with Papua as well as with Austronesian speakers further east (this latter being suggested by various characteristics of the Austronesian content in Kalau Lagaw Ya) — and overlaid an Australian population in such a way that the majority of women spoke an Australian language, with
6767-467: The features that would allow for a phylogenetic approach. This finding functioned as a kind of rejoinder to Dixon's scepticism. Our work puts to rest once and for all the claim that Australian languages are so exceptional that methods used elsewhere in the world do not work on this continent . The methods presented here have been used with Bantu, Austronesian, Indo-European, and Japonic languages (among others). Pama-Nyungan languages, like all languages, show
6868-538: The five major island groups and the navigational importance of stars to the seafaring people of the Torres Strait". The five points of the star on the flag represent the following regions (which do not match administrative regions): A celebration known as Flag Day takes place on 29 May each year, the anniversary of the day the flag was officially presented to the people of the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA), an Australian Commonwealth statutory authority created in 1994, exercises governance over
6969-427: The following 'trade' words in Torres Strait area languages. However, the question of external relationships of Kalaw Lagaw Ya is also complicated by resemblances between both the Paman ( Pama-Nyungan , Australian languages ) and the Trans-Fly (Papuan) languages. Though few, these may be significant, and include forms such as those noted below, not all of which appear in Kalaw Lagaw Ya. Such resemblances could point to
7070-416: The following: He believes that Lower Murray (five families and isolates), Arandic (2 families, Kaytetye and Arrernte), and Kalkatungic (2 isolates) are small Sprachbunds . Dixon's theories of Australian language diachrony have been based on a model of punctuated equilibrium (adapted from the eponymous model in evolutionary biology ) wherein he believes Australian languages to be ancient and to have—for
7171-437: The islands include dugongs (an endangered species of sea mammal widely found throughout the Indian Ocean and tropical Western Pacific, including Papua-New Guinean and Australian waters), as well as green , ridley , hawksbill and flatback sea turtles. The Torres Strait Islands may be grouped into five distinct clusters, which exhibit differences of geology and formation as well as location. The Torres Strait provides
7272-608: The islands. The TSRA has an elected board comprising 20 representatives from the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities resident in the Torres Strait region. One representative per established local community wins election to the board under the Queensland Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 and Division 5 of the ATSIC Act 1989 . The TSRA itself falls under the portfolio responsibilities of
7373-457: The land claims of both Torres Strait Islanders and Australian Aboriginal people. Its effects are still being felt in the 21st century, as indigenous communities establish claims to their traditional lands under the Native Title Act of 1993 . On 1 July 1994, the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) was created. In March 2008, fifteen Torres Strait Islander Councils were amalgamated into
7474-457: The language appeared to be a plural. Most nouns (a) form the plural with an -l suffix, and (b) in the nominative-accusative singular elide the stem final vowel, thus tukuyapa- 'same-sex sibling', plural tukuyapal , nominative-accusative tukuyap . Under this model 'custard-apple' became katitap , plural katitapal , and 'mammy-apple' (pawpaw/papaya) became mamiyap , plural mamiyapal . There are four main dialects, two of which are on probably
7575-526: The language when speaking to each other. Kalau Lagau Ya is spoken on the western and central islands of Torres Strait , between Papua New Guinea ( Naigay Dœgam Dhaudhai "North-side Mainland/Continent", also called Mœgi Dhaudhai "Small Mainland/Continent", KKY Mœgina Dhaudhai ) and the Australian mainland ( Zey Dœgam Dhaudhai "South-side Mainland/Continent", also known as Kœi Dhaudhai "Big Mainland/Continent"), though on some islands it has now been largely replaced by Brokan ( Torres Strait Creole ). There
7676-478: The language, assuming that they are Western Austronesian loans, appear to be pre-contact words. This is suggested by form and use in the language and in neighbouring languages (some of these words may ultimately be from Arabic and Sanskrit ). Loans from modern Eastern Austronesian (Polynesian and Melanesian) into the language are mainly of religious or 'academic' use. In general, such words are terms for objects that are strictly speaking European goods. One exception
7777-462: The languages have significant Austronesian vocabulary content, including items such as the following: Some of the Austronesian content is clearly South-East Papuan Austronesian: The linguistic history of the Torres Strait area is complex, and interaction of well over 2500 years has led to many layers of relationship between the local languages, including many words that are obviously common, such as
7878-838: The middle of Torres Strait, consisting of many small sandy cays surrounded by coral reefs , similar to those found in the nearby Great Barrier Reef . The more northerly islands in this group however, such as Gerbar (Two Brothers) and Iama (Yam Island) , are high basaltic outcrops, not cays. Nagi is a culturo-linguistic part of this group, and also has high basaltic outcropping. The low-lying inhabited coral cays, such as Poruma (Coconut Island) , Warraber Island and Masig (Yorke Island) are mostly less than 2 to 3 kilometres (1.2–1.9 miles) long, and no wider than 800 metres (2,600 feet). Several have had problems with saltwater intrusion . The islands of this group (principally Mer (Murray Island) , Dauar and Waier, with Erub Island and Stephen Island (Ugar) further north) are formed differently from
7979-476: The most part—remained in unchanging equilibrium with the exception of sporadic branching or speciation events in the phylogenetic tree . Part of Dixon's objections to the Pama–Nyungan family classification is the lack of obvious binary branching points which are implicitly or explicitly entailed by his model. However, the papers in Bowern & Koch (2004) demonstrate about ten traditional groups, including Pama–Nyungan, and its sub-branches such as Arandic, using
8080-538: The most widespread family of Australian Aboriginal languages , containing 306 out of 400 Aboriginal languages in Australia. The name "Pama–Nyungan" is a merism : it is derived from the two end-points of the range, the Pama languages of northeast Australia (where the word for "man" is pama ) and the Nyungan languages of southwest Australia (where the word for "man" is nyunga ). The other language families indigenous to
8181-581: The nearby coast of the mainland, Bamaga and Seisia . According to the Torres Strait Treaty, residents of Papua New Guinea are permitted to visit the Torres Strait Islands for traditional purposes. There are three languages spoken on the islands. The two indigenous languages are the Western-Central Torres Strait Language (called by various names, including Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kalaw Kawaw Ya, Kulkalgau Ya and Kaiwaligau Ya), and
8282-463: The original Australian forms appear to be unchanged at the core level. This suggests that the language is not a pidgin / creole in origin, but an Australian language which has undergone strong external lexical and grammatical influence. The language appears to be a classic case of shift, whereby speakers of one language retained multilingualism over a long period of time, absorbing aspects of another language. The Austronesian and Papuan overlays modified
8383-452: The other Torres Strait Islands. They were classified as part of the British colony of Queensland and, after 1901, of the Australian state of Queensland. But some of them lie just off the coast of New Guinea. In 1885, John Douglas was appointed as Government Resident Magistrate residing on Thursday Island. He made periodic tours of all the islands and was known to all the natives. He established
8484-559: The principles of dialect geography . Rather than discarding the notion that multiple subgroups of languages are genetically related due to the presence of multiple dialectal epicentres arranged around stark isoglosses , Bowern proposed that the non-binary-branching characteristics of Pama–Nyungan languages are precisely what we would expect to see from a language continuum in which dialects are diverging linguistically but remaining in close geographic and social contact. Bowern offered three main advantages of this geographical-continuum model over
8585-480: The provincial capital, Daru . Only 17 of the islands are inhabited. The Torres Strait Islands' population was recorded at 4,514 in the 2016 Australian census , with 91.8% of these identifying as Indigenous Torres Strait Island peoples . Although counted as Indigenous Australians , Torres Strait Islander peoples, being predominantly Melanesian , are ethnically and culturally different from Aboriginal Australians . The Spanish Explorer Luís Vaez de Torres sailed
8686-529: The punctuated equilibrium model: First, there is a place for both divergence and convergence as processes of language change; punctuated equilibrium stresses convergence as the main mechanism of language change in Australia. Second, it makes Pama-Nyungan look much more similar to other areas of the world. We no longer have to assume that Australia is a special case. Third, and related to this, we do not have to assume in this model that there has been intensive diffusion of many linguistic elements that in other parts of
8787-474: The region's airport, and as a result is something of an entrepôt with inhabitants drawn from many other communities. Kiriri (Hammond Island) is the other permanently settled island of this group; Tuined (Possession Island) is noted for Lt. James Cook's landing there in 1770. Moa in the Near Western group is culturally and linguistically speaking part of this group. This cluster is more widely distributed in
8888-421: The relationship of cognates between groups, it seems that Pama–Nyungan has many of the characteristics of a sprachbund , indicating the antiquity of multiple waves of culture contact between groups. Dixon in particular has argued that the genealogical trees found with many language families do not fit in the Pama–Nyungan family. Using computational phylogenetics , Bouckaert, Bowern & Atkinson (2018) posit
8989-558: The rest. They are volcanic in origin, the peaks of volcanoes which were active in Pleistocene times. Consequently, their hillsides have rich and fertile red volcanic soils, and are thickly vegetated. The easternmost of these are less than 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the northern extension of the Great Barrier Reef. The national flag features a white Dhari (headdress) and, underneath, a white five-pointed star, symbolising "peace,
9090-476: The sea, farming, canoe and sky/weather/astrology, with possible some syntactic words. This presents a picture of a typically extensive borrowing situation with much lexical borrowing and some structural borrowing with a large amount of passive bilingualism and little active bilingualism. Laade's picture (1968) of Australian and Papuan settlement in Torres Strait supports the above scenario of Papuan and Austronesian speakers who shifted to an Australian language over
9191-502: The system has no real surprises for Australian linguistics, it is clear that Kalaw Lagaw Ya has innovated in the 1st and 2nd pronouns, which have the following CA origins: The 2nd person dual and plural pronouns are based on forms that literally mean 'you dual ' ( ngipel ) and 'you-they' ( ngitha[na] ), in much the same way as the demonstratives mark the dual and plural (see further below in Nominal Morphology). An examination of
9292-538: The system under which the hereditary native chief of each island was installed as chief magistrate, supporting the local traditional system. He also established Native Police, but the only island on which the Native Police were armed was Saibai . There they were provided with Snider carbines to repel the attacks of the Marind-anim (formerly known as Tugeri), the headhunters who raided the islands from their territory on
9393-409: The various sub-systems (vocabulary, syntax, morphology) suggests the following: Some basic and abstract vocabulary, all personal pronouns (inc. who and what/which ), some verbs. Some grammar, such as nominal and verb morphology (subject, agent, object, genitive, -l locative, -ka dative, perfective attainative, imperfective, -i/-iz(i) perfective active. These typological categories also exist in
9494-465: The verge of extinction, one (Kaiwaligau Ya) through convergence to the neighbouring Kalaw Lagaw Ya. Within the dialects there are two or more subdialects. The average mutual intelligibility rate, based on a Swadesh count, is around 97%. The Southern dialect has certain characteristics that link it closely to the northern dialect, and folk history dealing with the Muralag group and Mua reflects this, in that
9595-432: The western Torres Strait Islands are the remaining peaks of this land bridge which were not completely submerged when the ocean levels rose. The islands and their surrounding waters and reefs provide a highly diverse set of land and marine ecosystems , with niches for many rare or unique species. Saltwater crocodiles inhabit the islands along with neighbouring areas of Queensland and Papua New Guinea . Marine animals of
9696-442: The women understanding the language of the men, but not really needing to speak it while retaining parts of their language for significant areas. The children then created a new language shift to an Australian language with a Papuan-Austronesian admixture. Kalaw Lagaw Ya is thus a mixed language in that a significant part of its lexicon, phonology and grammar is not Australian in origin. The core nominal, pronominal and verb morphology
9797-511: The world are resistant to borrowing (such as shared irregularities). Additional methods of computational phylogenetics employed by Bowern and Atkinson uncovered that there were more binary-branching characteristics than initially thought. Instead of acceding to the notion that Pama–Nyungan languages do not share the characteristics of a binary-branching language family, the computational methods revealed that inter-language loan rates were not as atypically high as previously imagined and do not obscure
9898-605: Was taken to officially term the language Kalau Lagau Ya , using the formal form. When speaking to each other, speakers generally refer to the language as Langgus 'language' or use phrases such as KLY/KulY ngalpudh muli , MY-KY ngalpudh/ngalpadh muli , KKY ngalpadh muliz "speak(s) our language", e.g. KLY/KulY ngalpudh muuli, thanamunungu tidailai! , MY-KY ngalpudh/ngalpadh muuli, thanamuningu tidailai! , KKY ngalpadh muli, thanamulngu tidaile! 'Speak in our language so they don't understand!'. Ngalpudh/ngalpadh literally means 'like us'. The construction X-dh mula+i- 'speak X-like'
9999-424: Was that of a few Austronesian men who settled on the outskirts of an East Trans-Fly group, intermarried, and whose children were either bilingual, or speakers of their mothers' language, with some knowledge of their fathers' language. The local people did not need to speak the traders' language, who in turn had to speak the local language. The children in turn would then speak the local language, with varying ability in
10100-510: Was the major lingua franca of the Torres Strait cultural area of Northern Cape York Australia , Torres Strait and along the coast of the Western Province/ Papua New Guinea . It is still fairly widely spoken by neighbouring Papuans and by some Aboriginal Australians . How many non-first language speakers it has is unknown. It also has a 'light' (simplified/foreigner) form, as well as a pidginised form. The simplified form
10201-473: Was unable to find anything that reliably set Pama–Nyungan apart as a valid genetic group. Fifteen years later, he had abandoned the idea that Australian or Pama–Nyungan were families. He now sees Australian as a Sprachbund ( Dixon 2002 ). Some of the small traditionally Pama–Nyungan families which have been demonstrated through the comparative method , or which in Dixon's opinion are likely to be demonstrable, include
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