Pirriya language explained

Pirriya
Also Known As:Birria
States:Australia
Ethnicity:Bidia
Extinct:1969
Familycolor:Australian
Fam1:Pama–Nyungan
Fam2:(unclassified,
possibly Karnic)
Iso3:xpa
Aiatsis:L36
Glotto:pirr1240
Glottorefname:Pirriya

Pirriya (also Birria, Bidia, Kunggari, Kulumali, and Kungadutji) is an extinct and unclassified Australian Aboriginal language. It was spoken by the Bidia people (also known as Biria) of the western and central western Queensland, including Barcoo Shire, Whitula Creek, Cooper Creek, and Jundah.

It is not to be confused with the Biri language and its dialects, also a Queensland language, spoken by the Biria people.

Classification

Geographically it lay between the Karnic and Maric languages, but had no obvious connection to either; the data is too poor to draw any conclusions on classification.[1] Dixon (2002)[2] classes Pirriya with Kungkari as a subgroup of the Maric languages while Breen (1990) suggests it may be a Karnic language.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

PeripheralLaminalApical
LabialVelarDentalPalatalAlveolarRetroflex
Plosivepkct/dʈ
Nasalmŋɲnɳ
Rhoticr
Lateral(l̪)ʎlɭ
Approximantwjɻ
The dental /l̪/ only rarely occurs.

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Highi iːu (uː)
Lowa aː
The long /uː/ is considered rare.[4]

Vocabulary

Some words from the Birria language, as spelt and written by Birria authors include:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bowern, Claire . Forty years on . Canberra Pacific Linguistics . 2001 . J Simpson . 245–260 . Karnic classification revisited . etal . https://web.archive.org/web/20211103181833/http://yale.academia.edu/ClaireBowern/Papers/1002425/Karnic_classification_revisited . live . 2021-11-03.
  2. Book: Dixon, R. M. W. . Australian Languages: their nature and development . Cambridge University Press . 2002 . R. M. W. Dixon.
  3. Book: Breen, Gavan . Salvage studies of Western Queensland Aboriginal languages . 1990 . Pacific Linguistics . Pacific Linguistics B-105 . Canberra.
  4. Book: Blake, Barry J. . Pirriya . Breen . Gavan . Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University . 1990 . In Gavan Breen (ed.), Salvage studies of Western Queensland Aboriginal languages . 6-21.