View source for Yankunytjatjara dialect

{{Short description|Australian Aboriginal language}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Yankunytjatjara
|region=[[South Australia]]
|ethnicity=[[Yankuntjatjarra]]
|speakers={{sigfig|598|2}}
|date=2021 census
|ref=<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021/|title=Cultural diversity: Census|author=Australian Bureau of Statistics|access-date=13 October 2022|date=2021}}</ref>
|familycolor=Australian
|fam1=[[Pama–Nyungan languages|Pama–Nyungan]]
|fam2=[[Wati languages|Wati]]
|fam3=[[Western Desert Language|Western Desert]]
|iso3=kdd
|glotto=yank1247
|glottorefname=Yankunytjatjara
|aiatsis=C4
|notice=IPA
}}

'''Yankunytjatjara''' (also '''Yankuntatjara''', '''Jangkundjara''', or '''Kulpantja''') is an [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Australian Aboriginal language]]. It is one of the [[Western Desert Language|Wati languages]], belonging to the large [[Pama–Nyungan languages|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).<ref name="PYdict"/>

==Dialects==
Yankunytjatjara is one of the many dialects of the Western Desert language and is very similar to the better known, more widely spoken [[Pitjantjatjara language|Pitjantjatjara]].<ref>Goddard, Cliff (1991) 'A Case Study in the Cross-Cultural Semantics of Emotion' ''Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland'' 26:265-279</ref> 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 language|Arabana]] lands), young speakers of Yankunytjatjara often [[loan words|borrow words]] from [[English language|English]] and also from Pitjantjatjara (which has expanded eastwards into Yankunytjatjara country and beyond).<ref name=Naessan>Naessan, Petter (2008) 'Some tentative remarks on the sociolinguistic vitality of Yankunytjatjara in Coober Pedy, South Australia', ''Australian Journal of Linguistics'', 28:2,103 — 138</ref> Yankunytjatjara shows some variation across its range with, for example, Northern Yankunytjatjara sharing features with Southern [[Luritja]].<ref name="PYdict">Goddard, Cliff (1987) A Basic Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara to English dictionary, N.T.: Institute for Aboriginal Development</ref>

== Phonology ==
===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
![[front vowel|Front]]
![[central vowel|Central]]
![[back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPAlink|i}} {{angbr|i}}   {{IPAlink|iː}} {{angbr|ii}}
|
| {{IPAlink|ʊ}}~{{IPAlink|u}} {{angbr|u}}   {{IPAlink|uː}} {{angbr|uu}}
|-
![[open vowel|Open]]
|
| {{IPAlink|a}} {{angbr|a}}   {{IPAlink|aː}} {{angbr|aa}}
|
|}

* {{IPA|/i, a/}} are realised  as {{IPA|[ɪ, ɐ]}} when preceding laminal consonants.

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan=2|
!colspan=2| [[Peripheral consonant|Peripheral]]
! [[Laminal consonant|Laminal]]
!colspan=2| [[Apical consonant|Apical]]
|-
! [[bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
|-
![[stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPAlink|p}} {{angbr|p}}
| {{IPAlink|k}} {{angbr|k}}
| {{IPAlink|c}} {{angbr|tj}}
| {{IPAlink|t}} {{angbr|t}}
| {{IPAlink|ʈ}} {{angbr|ṯ}}
|-
![[nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}} {{angbr|m}}
| {{IPAlink|ŋ}} {{angbr|ng}}
| {{IPAlink|ɲ}} {{angbr|ny}}
| {{IPAlink|n}} {{angbr|n}}
| {{IPAlink|ɳ}} {{angbr|ṉ}}
|-
![[Tap and flap consonants|Tap]]/[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| colspan=2| 
| 
| {{IPAlink|ɾ}}~{{IPAlink|r}} {{angbr|r}}
|
|-
![[lateral consonant|Lateral]]
| colspan=2| 
| {{IPAlink|ʎ}} {{angbr|ly}}
| {{IPAlink|l}} {{angbr|l}}
| {{IPAlink|ɭ}} {{angbr|ḻ}}
|-
![[approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| colspan=2| {{IPAlink|w}} {{angbr|w}}
| {{IPAlink|j}} {{angbr|y}}
| 
| {{IPAlink|ɻ}} {{angbr|ṟ}}
|}

* {{IPA|/r/}} can be trilled {{IPAblink|r}} when pronounced emphatically, or may also occur as voiceless {{IPAblink|r̥}} in word-final position.

==Name==
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 {{Lang|kdd|pitjantja}} (in the present tense {{Lang|kdd|pitjanyi}}) for this verb while Yankunytjatjara has {{Lang|kdd|yankunytja}} (present tense {{Lang|kdd|yananyi}}).<ref name="GoddardDictionary">Goddard (1996)</ref> The ending {{Lang|kdd|-tjara}} is the [[comitative]] suffix, and means 'having' or 'with'. Thus Yankunytjatjara means 'to have {{Lang|kdd|yankunytja}}' as opposed to Pitjantjatjara which has {{Lang|pjt|pitjantja}}.<ref name="PYdict"/>

Alternatively, the northernmost Yankunytjatjara and parts of Southern Luritja both have the word {{Lang|kdd|maṯu}} 'true' and so are sometimes grouped together as [[Maṯutjara]] to contrast them with the Southern Yankunytjatjara who use {{Lang|kdd|mula}} for 'true' and so can be referred to as Mulatjara.<ref name="PYdict"/> Another classification used by speakers groups Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara together as Nyangatjatjara as they both use {{Lang|kdd|nyangatja}} for the demonstrative 'this' or 'this one'; this contrasts them with Ngaanyatjara, which has {{Lang|ntj|ngaanya}} for the demonstrative and Nyanganyatjara varieties (still further west) which have {{Lang|ntj|nyanganya}}.

=== Pronunciation ===
The name ''Yankunytjatjara'' is usually pronounced (in normal, fast speech) with one of the repeated syllables {{Lang|kdd|-tja-}} deleted, thus: {{Lang|kdd|yankunytjara}}. In slow, careful speech all syllables will be pronounced.<ref name="GoddardGrammar">Goddard (1985)</ref>

==Status==
There seems to be no exhaustive evidence on the vitality of Yankunytjatjara. McConvell & Thieberger<ref name=Naessan/> found Yankunytjatjara to be endangered based mainly on the Census of 1996. In 2005 the [[National Indigenous Language Survey]], based on a more comprehensive survey, concluded that Yankunytjatjara was 'definitely endangered'.<ref>McConvell, Patrick, D. Marmion and S. McNichol. (2005) 'Report of the National Indigenous Language Survey of Australia ' Canberra: DCITA/AIATSIS/FATSIL</ref>
Naessan, using the 2003 UNESCO framework, gave a mark of 22/23 out of 35 (in its most condensed spot), quite a low score. If some factors that Naessan feels are unimportant in most indigenous languages are ignored, Yankunytjatjara scores 14/15 out of 20 (in its densest area). However, he argues that since recent surveys have included these factors, they may be more helpful for cross referencing. To a lesser extent he feels that, since Western Desert people own some media sources (radio station etc.), such factors should be included. He concludes a 57–65% vitality.

Both schemas indicate that Yankunytjatjara shows symptoms of endangerment (although ''how'' endangered is a subject of debate), which coincides with the beliefs of the Yankunytjatjara elders that Naessan spoke with, as well as with the assessments of most linguists who have worked in the area.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite book |last=Goddard |first=Cliff | author-link = Cliff Goddard |year=1996 |title=Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara to English Dictionary |publisher=IAD Press |location=Alice Springs |isbn=0-949659-91-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Goddard |first=Cliff |year=1985 |title=A Grammar of Yankunytjatjara |publisher=Institute for Aboriginal Development Press |isbn=0-949659-32-0}}
*{{Cite book |last=Goddard |first=Cliff |year=1983 |title=A Semantically-Oriented Grammar of Yankunytjatjara Dialect of the Western Desert Language |publisher=Australian National University }}
==Further reading==

*{{cite web|url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/pub/UKTNP-A4FactSheet-AnanguLanguage-SMALL.pdf|publisher=Parks Australia|title=Anangu Language|series=Fact Sheet: Ulur u-Kata Tjuta National Park}}

{{Pama–Nyungan languages|Central}}
{{Aboriginal South Australians}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yankunytjatjara Language}}
[[Category:Wati languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australian languages in South Australia]]