Yanyuwa language

Yanyuwa has 16 noun classes, distinguished by prefixes. In some cases, different prefixes are used, depending on whether the speaker is a male or a female.

Notes:

(w) women's speech, (m) men's speech, 0- no prefix used.

rra- is a more formal female/feminine prefix often used in elicitations, and a- is the informal everyday form. There is only one word in Yanyuwa, rra-ardu "girl", in which the rra- prefix is always used. That distinguish it from the men's speech form ardu "boy" for which women say nya-ardu.

Yanyuwa is unusual among languages of the world in that it has separate dialects for men and for women at the morphological level. The only time that men use the women's dialect is if they are quoting someone of the opposite sex and vice versa. An example of this speech is provided below:

(w) nya-buyi nya-ardu kiwa-wingka waykaliya wulangindu kanyilu-kala nyikunya-baba.

(m) buyi ardu ka-wingka waykaliya wulangindu kila-kala nyiku-baba.

The little boy went down to the river and saw his brother.

The BBC reported in 2018 that there were 3 fluent female speakers worldwide.[5]

Avoidance speech is speech style used when talking to or near certain relatives: one's siblings and cousins of the opposite sex, one's brother-in-law, sister-in-law, father-in-law and mother-in-law, and one's nieces and nephews if their father (for male speakers) or their mother (for female speakers) has died. Occasionally, avoidance speech takes the form of different affixes to usual speech, but generally, it is simply a change in vocabulary.

For example, a digging stick is usually referred to as na-wabija, but when talking to one of the above relatives, the word used is na-wulungkayangu.

An example of avoidance speech is given below:

Avoidance: Ja-wuynykurninji ki-bujibujilu runungkawu ma-wulyarri.

Normal: Ja-wingkayi ki-buyukalu wubanthawu ma-ngarra.

He is going to the fire to cook food.

Another set of vocabulary is used during ceremonies and other ritual occasions. Many of the words used in ritual speech are sacred and kept secret.

For example, a dingo is usually referred to as wardali, but during ritual occasions, the word used is yarrarriwira. That is one ritual term which is known to the general public, as are some other terms for flora and fauna.

When on the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands, which is part of Yanyuwa territory, another set of vocabulary may be used to replace the terms used when on the mainland. There is more variance about the usage of island speech than the other speech styles.

For example, on the mainland, fishing is referred to as wardjangkayarra, but on the islands, the word used is akarimantharra.

Yanyuwa-speakers have actively engaged in making a number of films, and more recently have begun a project to animate important stories and songlines. These include three important films, all of which have extensive narratives in Yanyuwa, with subtitles:

• Kanymarda Yuwa – Two Laws,
• Buwarrala Akarriya – Journey East,
• Ka-wayawayama – Aeroplane Dance.

Singer Shellie Morris released in May 2013 a song album Ngambala Wiji Li-Wunungu – Together We are Strong, with songs in Yanyuwa.[6][7]