Yangkaal
Tangkic
Yangkaal is a Tangkic language of Forsyth Island and the north-eastern Wellesley Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland — closely related to Lardil and Kayardild. With perhaps a single fluent first-language speaker remaining, it is effectively dormant. Yangkaal and Lardil were the only two languages whose senior men used the Damin auxiliary register — the famous secret men's ceremonial speech that uses click consonants (otherwise unknown in any Australian language) and a radically restricted vocabulary built up by semantic abstraction over the everyday lexicon. Most published Tangkic material focuses on Lardil and Kayardild; Yangkaal-specific lexical forms are not separately documented at the precision required for confident Swadesh entries, so the cells here are left blank rather than guessed.
Where it is spoken
87 core words in Yangkaal
Sources
- Evans (1995) A Grammar of Kayardild, with Historical-Comparative Notes on Tangkic (Mouton de Gruyter)
- Hale field notes on Lardil-Yangkaal-Damin (1960s-80s; cf. AIATSIS archives)
- Glottolog: Yangkaal (yang1294)
- Ethnologue: nny
Words compared
Compared with languages in the same classification: Tangkic
| Meaning | Yangkaal | Venetic | Lardil | Proto-Japonic-Koreanic | Messapic | Proto-Afroasiatic | Nicaraguan Sign Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | nguku /ŋuku/ | ouriom /ˈouriom/ | nguka /ŋuka/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *maw- /maw/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | ngida /ŋida/ | — /—/ | nyuda /ɲuda/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | warrku /waɾku/ | — /—/ | warrka /waɾka/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | waldarra /waldaɾa/ | — /—/ | kirdikir /kiɖikir/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Star | miburlda thungalda /mibuɭda t̪uŋalda/ | — /—/ | kuwa thungal /kuwa θuŋal/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Night | ngimi /ŋimi/ | — /—/ | nata /nata/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | ngamathu /ŋamat̪u/ | matur /ˈmatur/ | ngama /ŋama/ | *əma /əma/ | — /—/ | *ʔim- /ʔim/ | — /—/ |
| Father | kanthathu /kant̪at̪u/ | — /—/ | kantha /kan̪t̪a/ | *əpa /əpa/ | ana /ˈana/ | *ʔab- /ʔab/ | — /—/ |
| I | ngada /ŋada/ | eχo /ˈexo/ | ngada /ŋada/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *ʔan- /ʔan/ | — /—/ |
| You | nyingka /ɲiŋka/ | — /—/ | nyingki /ɲiŋki/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| We | ngakulda / ngalda /ŋakulda / ŋalda/ | — /—/ | ngakuli / nyali /ŋakuli / ɲali/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Name | nida /nida/ | — /—/ | nyunda /ɲunda/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *sim- /sim/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | miburlda /mibuɭda/ | — /—/ | kuwa /kuwa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *ʕayn- /ʕayn/ | — /—/ |
| Tooth | damanda /damanda/ | — /—/ | kadma leman /kadma leman/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tongue | jalngantha /ɟalŋant̪a/ | — /—/ | jalda leman /dʒalda leman/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *lis- /lis/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | — /—/ | — /—/ | marlda /maɭda/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | bulja /buldʒa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *lib- /lib/ | — /—/ |
| Bone | julda /ɟulda/ | — /—/ | kadma /kadma/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *ḳas- /kʼas/ | — /—/ |
| Blood | kandu /kandu/ | — /—/ | kanda /kanda/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *dam- /dam/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | — /—/ | — /—/ | thungal /θuŋal/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | — /—/ | — /—/ | ngawa /ŋawa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fish | yakuri /jakuɾi/ | — /—/ | yaka /jaka/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | — /—/ | — /—/ | ngambirr /ŋambir/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | — /—/ | — /—/ | jitha /dʒiθa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | — /—/ | — /—/ | kurdama /kuɖama/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | — /—/ | — /—/ | warnge /waɾŋe/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Two | kiyarrngka /kijaɾŋka/ | — /—/ | kiyarrng /kijaɾŋ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | *sin- /sin/ | — /—/ |
| Three | — /—/ | — /—/ | mungkalan /muŋkalan/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | — /—/ | kuba /kuba/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Red | kandukandu /kandukandu/ | — /—/ | kandukan /kandukan/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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