Yankunytjatjara language
| Yankunytjatjara | |
|---|---|
| Region | South Australia |
|
Native speakers
|
70 (2005) to 560 (2006 census) |
|
Pama–Nyungan
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | yank1247 |
| AIATSIS | C4 |
 |
|
Yankunytjatjara (also Yankuntatjara, Jangkundjara, Kulpantja) is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Wati languages, belonging to the large Pama–Nyungan family. It is one of the many varieties of the Western Desert Language, all of which are mutually intelligible.
Yankunytjatjara is spoken in the north-west of South Australia and is one of the most easterly of the Western Desert dialects, being spoken around the communities of Mimili, Indulkana and Fregon and across to Oodnadatta and Coober Pedy (although this latter is not on traditional Yankunytjatjara land).
Yankunytjatjara is one of the many dialects of the Western Desert language and is very similar to the better known, more widely spoken Pitjantjatjara. According to a study carried out mainly in Coober Pedy where many speakers of both varieties reside (although the town is on what was traditionally Arabana lands), young speakers of Yankunytjatjara often borrow words from English and also from Pitjantjatjara (which has expanded eastwards into Yankunytjatjara country and beyond). Yankunytjatjara shows some variation across its range with, for example, Northern Yankunytjatjara sharing features with Southern Luritja.
The name used for Yankunytjatjara is based on a single prominent word, the verb for ‘come/go’, which distinguishes it from its near neighbour, Pitjantjatjara. The latter has pitjantja (in the present tense pitjanyi) for this verb while Yankunytjatjara has yankunyta (present tense yananyi). The ending -tjara is the comitative suffix, and means ‘having’ or ‘with’. Thus Yankunytjatjara means 'to have yankunytja ' as opposed to Pitjantjatjara which has pitjantja.
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Wikipedia