Pakanha language

Pakanha (Bakanha), or Ayabakan, is a nearly extinct Paman language spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia. In 1981, there were 10 speakers of the language, originally spoken by the aboriginal Pakanha people in the central part of the Cape York Peninsula.[3]

Pakanha
Ayabakan
Native toAustralia
RegionCape York Peninsula, Queensland
EthnicityAyabakan
Extinct1990s[1]
No known L1 speakers[2][1]
Dialects
  • Western Ayapathu
Language codes
ISO 639-3pkn
Glottologpaka1251
AIATSIS[2]Y64 Pakanh, Y181 Western Ayapathu
ELPPakanh
Coordinates: 14°30′S 142°25′E

Phonology

Vowels

Pakanha has 5 vowel qualities:[4]

Short Long
Front Central Back Front Central Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ u ~ ʊ ⟨u⟩ iː ⟨ii⟩ uː ⟨uu⟩
Mid e ~ e̞ ⟨e⟩ o ~ ɔ ⟨o⟩ ɛː ⟨ee⟩ oː ⟨oo⟩
Open a ~ ə ⟨a⟩ aː ⟨aa⟩

Consonants

Pakanha has 15 consonants:[4]

Peripheral Laminal Apical Glottal
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p ⟨p⟩ k ⟨k⟩ c ⟨ch⟩ t̪ ⟨th⟩ t ⟨t⟩ ʔ ⟨'⟩
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩ n̪ ⟨nh⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Trill r ⟨rr⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ j ⟨y⟩ l ⟨l⟩ ɻ ⟨r⟩

Vocabulary/Topical Index

The following is a sample of words from a comparative wordlist/topical index produced by Philip Hamilton.[5] The Pakanha words are accompanied by corresponding words from the distantly related Uw Olkola and Uw Oykangand languages:

(P) = Pakanha, (Olk) = Uw Olkola, (Oyk) = Uw Oykangand.

The Body:

  • Body
    • nhangka (P)
    • idnhan (Olk, Oyk)
    • elpan (Olk)
  • Head
    • wele (P)
    • eka (Olk)
    • e.g. (Oyk)
  • Fontanel
    • wele ngangka (P)
    • ek ulpar (Olk)
    • e.g. ulbar (Oyk)
  • Skull
    • yenkan (P)
    • ek obher (Olk)
    • e.g. opher (Oyk)

The Pakanha word for the eastern grey kangaroo, kucha, was used as the name of a tribe on the second season of the American reality television series, Survivor in 2001.[6]

References
  1. Pakanha at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
  2. Y64 Pakanh at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  3. Wurm and Hattori 1981
  4. Hamilton, Philip (1998), Uw Oykangand and Uw Olkola Multimedia Dictionary, retrieved 20 January 2011 {{grapheme|
  5. Hamilton, Philip (1998), Uw Oykangand and Uw Olkola Multimedia Dictionary, archived from the original on 23 March 2012, retrieved 22 February 2011
  6. "Kangaroo". Archived from the original on 2012-10-17.
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