Gubbi Gubbi language explained

Kabi
Nativename:	Kabi Kabi
Region:	Queensland
Ethnicity:	Kabi Kabi (Kabi), Butchulla (incl. Ngulungbara)
Speakers:	24 of the Batjala dialect
Date:	2016 census
Ref:	^[1]
Familycolor:	Australian
Fam1:	Pama–Nyungan
Fam2:	Waka–Kabic
Fam3:	Than
Dia1:	Kabi Kabi (Dippil)
Dia2:	Badjala (Batjala, Batyala, Butchulla)
Lc1:	gbw
Ld1:	Kabi-Kabi
Lc2:	xby
Ld2:	Batyala
Aiatsis:	E29
Aiatsisname:	Gubbi Gubbi
Aiatsis2:	E30
Aiatsisname2:	Butchulla
Glotto:	kabi1260
Glottorefname:	Kabikabi
Elp2:	6772
Elpname2:	Batyala
Map:	Lang Status 20-CR.svg

Gubbi Gubbi, also spelt Kabi Kabi, is a language of Queensland in Australia, formerly spoken by the Kabi Kabi people of South-east Queensland. The main dialect, Gubbi Gubbi, is extinct, but there are still 24 people with knowledge of the Butchulla dialect (also spelt Batjala, Batyala, Badjala, and variants), a language spoken by the Butchulla people of K'gari (Fraser Island).

Words

According to Norman Tindale (1974), the word Kabi (['kabi]), means "no".

"Wunya ngulum" means "Welcome, everyone" in Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi.^[2]

Language status

The main dialect is extinct, but there were still 24 people with knowledge of the Batjala dialect (a language spoken by the Butchulla people of K'gari formerly known as Fraser Island) as of the 2016 Australian census.^[1]

Phonology

The following is in the Badjala/Butchulla dialect:

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex/ Palatal	Velar
Stop	plain	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)	pronounced as /link/
	tense	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
Nasal		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)	pronounced as /link/
Lateral				pronounced as /link/
Rhotic				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Approximant		pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/

• /n̪/ is always heard as palatal [ɲ] when preceding /i/, and in word-final position.
• /d̪/ can be heard in free variation with palatal [ɟ].
• /b d̪ ɡ/ can have lenited allophones [β ð ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
• /ɻ/ has a lateral allophone of [ɭ] when preceding /b/.
• /ɡ/ is often slightly palatalised as [ɡʲ] before /i/.

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Low	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/

• pronounced as //aː// can sometimes be heard as pronounced as /[æː]/ before pronounced as //l//.
• pronounced as //u// can be heard as pronounced as /[ɔ]/ when preceding an intervocalic pronounced as //ɻ//.^[3]

External links

• Selected bibliography of material on Gubbi Gubbi / Kabi Kabi / Gabi Gabi language and people held in the AIATSIS Library
• Heritage of Kabi Kabi people - Sunshine Coast Tourism Information Centre
• Joyce Bonner digital story, State Library of Queensland. Digital story discussing the Badtjala dialect
• Eve Fesl digital story, State Library of Queensland. Digital story discussing the Gubbi Gubbi language

Notes and References

1. Web site: Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+). ABS. stat.data.abs.gov.au. en-au. 2017-10-30. 26 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181226044803/http://stat.data.abs.gov.au/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ABS_C16_T09_SA. dead.
2. Web site: Say G'day in an Indigenous Language. 2016. slq.qld.gov.au/. State Library of Queensland. 28 December 2019.
3. Bell, Jeanie P. (2003). A sketch grammar of the Badjala language of Gari (Fraser Island). The University of Melbourne.