Burduna language explained

Burduna
Also Known As:Purduna, Bayungu, Payungu
States:Australia
Region:Ashburton and Gascyon rivers
Ethnicity:Buruna, Baiyungu
Extinct:2006
Ref:e25
Familycolor:Australian
Fam1:Pama–Nyungan
Fam2:Kanyara–Mantharta
Fam3:Kanyara
Ld2:Bayungu (extinct)
Lc2:bxj
Ld1:Burduna (extinct?)
Lc1:bxn
Aiatsis:W24
Aiatsisname:Purduna
Aiatsis2:W23
Aiatsisname2:Payungu
Glotto:burd1238
Glottoname:Burduna
Glotto2:bayu1240
Glottoname2:Bayungu
Elp2:4003
Elpname2:Payungu

Burduna is an Aboriginal language that was traditionally spoken in the region between the Ashburton and Gascyone Rivers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It belongs to the Kanyara group of languages, which also includes Binigura/Pinikura (also known as Thalanyji).[1] [2]

The language is now classified as critically endangered, with no recorded native speakers as of 2004. However, there are some people of Burduna heritage who can still speak and recognise a few words and phrases.[3] [4] [5]

Culture and development

The Burduna people were located around the Nyang and Maroonah regions between the Ashburton and Gascyone rivers in north-western Australia. Their traditional country regions included the regions around the Yannarie and Lyndon rivers. Some of the area in and around the Towera region is also identified as being traditional Burduna land.[6] [7]

The Kanyara people traditionally spoke three different languages - Purduna or Burduna, Thalanyji, and Bayungu or Payungu. The three languages share highly similar sentence structure and vocabulary, with 60-70% of words being common across all three of them.[8]

The societal structure of the Burduna people consisted of four different subsets. Each subset was further divided into 'totems', and each totem was further divided into 'phrartries'. Individuals within a phrartry were assigned gender-specific titles, and these titles were used to address them in the same manner as personal names are used today. A totemic phrartry was inherited in a patrilineal manner, i.e., an offspring born to parents from two different phrartries was assigned to the phrartry of the father. Marriages within the same totem phrartry were not allowed.[9]

Often, these totems and phrartries interspersed with people from different linguistic backgrounds. For example, the totem 'Snake' included the Burduna-speaking population as well as the Thalanyji-speaking population.

Totems in the societal structure of the Burduna people in the Ashburton district[10] !Totem!Male name!Female name!Tribe
EmuWariaraNgogodjiBurduna
Turkey & FireWaliriWilariBurduna
SnakeWiarrjiMambuluBurduna, Thalanyji
As a result of white settlement along the Ashburton and Gascyone river regions, the language ceased to be used, and is believed to have died out sometime during the first half of the twentieth century. There are a few people living in Onslow and Carnarvon who can still speak and recognize a few words and phrases, but the majority of Burduna descendants have intermarried with other language groups. The National Language Indigenous 2004 Survey estimated that there are no native speakers of the language. It has thus been classified as endangerment level 0.

Lexicon and grammar

There are two major word classes and three minor ones in the Burduna language. The first major word class contains the nominal words, which includes nouns and adjectives, names, pronouns, demonstratives, and cardinal directions.[11]

The second major word group includes the verbs. The three minor word groups include adverbs, particles, and interjections.[12]

Evolution

Burduna has been classified as a double-marking language. Although it has been categorised as a Kanyara language, it is significantly different from the other languages in the category as it underwent a number of changes in pronunciation.[13]

Over the years, the language lost most of its nasal sounds and tones. Certain words that contains peripheral stops with p and k sounds lenited to a w sound instead. For example, papu (father) became pawu, and puka (bad) became puwa. However, this lenition did not occur when the previous syllable contained a w. Instead, the consonants p and k descended, and were pronounced as b and g respectively.[14]

Another marked difference included the pronunciation of polysyllabic words such as yakan (spouse) and pukurra (devil). These words lost their middle consonants and were shortened to yaan and puurra. The vowels were pronounced with a long, drawn-out sound.

Burduna words also contained consonant clusters in words such as db in dagba (spider) or rdg in ngardga (beard). Furthermore, words that originally contained consonant clusters underwent lenition and were pronounced with softer sounds. For example, mb was pronounced as p, nd as t, and ngg as k.

In addition, where other languages have a dh or a j in the middle of words, Burduna evolved to contain a y. For example, the Thalanyji word ngadhal (cousin) had its Burduna complement spelt as ngayal.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Austin. Peter. 1988. Classification of southern Pilbara languages. Papers in Australian Linguistics. 17. 1–17.
  2. Book: Dixon, Robert M.. Australian languages: their nature and development. Cambridge University Press. 2002. 9780521473781. English.
  3. Web site: W24: Burduna aiatsis collection. live. December 17, 2021. collection.aiatsis.gov.au. https://web.archive.org/web/20181031164345/https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/w24 . 31 October 2018 .
  4. Austin. Peter. 1988. Aboriginal languages of the Gascoyne-Ashburton region. La Trobe Working Papers in Linguistics. 1. 43–63. La Trobe University.
  5. Web site: Purduna. live. December 17, 2021. Sorosoro. https://web.archive.org/web/20110105175315/http://www.sorosoro.org/en/purduna . 5 January 2011 .
  6. Austin. Peter. 1988. Classification of southern Pilbara languages. Papers in Australian Linguistics. 17. 1–17.
  7. Web site: W24: Burduna aiatsis collection. live. December 17, 2021. collection.aiatsis.gov.au. https://web.archive.org/web/20181031164345/https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/w24 . 31 October 2018 .
  8. Austin. Peter. 1991. Double case marking in Kanyara and Mantharta languages, Western Australia. La Trobe Working Papers in Linguistics. 4. 19–36. La Trobe University.
  9. Book: Skin, Kin and Clan: The dynamics of social categories in Indigenous Australia. 2018-04-05. ANU Press. 978-1-76046-163-8. McConvell. Patrick. 1st. 10.22459/skc.04.2018. Kelly. Piers. Lacrampe. Sébastien . free .
  10. Book: Skin, Kin and Clan: The dynamics of social categories in Indigenous Australia. 2018-04-05. ANU Press. 978-1-76046-163-8. McConvell. Patrick. 1st. 10.22459/skc.04.2018. Kelly. Piers. Lacrampe. Sébastien . free .
  11. Austin. Peter. 1991. Double case marking in Kanyara and Mantharta languages, Western Australia. La Trobe Working Papers in Linguistics. 4. 19–36. La Trobe University.
  12. Austin. Peter. 1991. Double case marking in Kanyara and Mantharta languages, Western Australia. La Trobe Working Papers in Linguistics. 4. 19–36. La Trobe University.
  13. Austin. Peter. 1991. Double case marking in Kanyara and Mantharta languages, Western Australia. La Trobe Working Papers in Linguistics. 4. 19–36. La Trobe University.
  14. Austin. Peter. 1981. Proto-Kanyara and proto-Mantharta historical phonology. Lingua. en. 54. 4. 295–333. 10.1016/0024-3841(81)90009-7.