Yuin–Kuric | |
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Geographic distribution |
New South Wales, ACT, and SE Queensland, Australia |
Linguistic classification |
Pama–Nyungan
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Subdivisions |
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Glottolog | yuin1243 |
Yuin–Kuric languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan). From southwest to northeast, the three groups are Yuin, Yora, and Kuri.
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The Yuin–Kuric languages are a family of mainly extinct indigenous Australian languages that existed in the south east of Australia.
They belong in the Pama–Nyungan family. These languages are divided into the Yuin, Kuri, and Yora groups, although exact classifications vary between researchers. Yuin–Kuric languages were spoken by the original inhabitants of what are now the cities of Sydney and Canberra. Most are now extinct.
The koala is named from the word gula for the animal in Dharuk, a Yuin–Kuri language within the Yora group, and the same word occurs in other Yuin–Kuri languages, such as Gundungurra, within the Yuin group.
The constituent languages are groups are arranged from southeast to northwest:
The Yuin (southern) group includes:
The Yora or Iyora (central) group is accepted by Dixon.
They were spoken in the region of Sydney.
The Kuri (northern) group has been reduced to its southernmost languages:
Languages once classified as Kuric include Yugambal, Yuggarabul (Yuggera), and Nganyaywana (Anaiwan) further north.
Jeremy Steele's partial reconstruction of the Sydney language includes a comparison of pronouns in several Yuin–Kuric languages. The following partial and simplified version shows some of the similarities and differences across the family: