| Kalali | |
|---|---|
| Garlali Bulloo River | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Bulloo River,Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Kalali |
| Extinct | 1980s[1] |
| Revival | 2020s |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gll |
| Glottolog | kala1380 |
| AIATSIS[1] | D30 Kullilli,L25 Wangkumara (Curr'sWongkomarra),L43 Bidjara,L57 Minkabari |
| ELP | Garlali |
Kalali, also writtenKullili,Galali,Garlali,Kullilla and other variants, is a poorly attestedAustralian Aboriginal language, ofQueensland, Australia.
It is one of several geographically transitional "Karna–Mari fringe" languages that have not been convincingly classified, and is best considered an isolate branch within thePama–Nyungan family.[1]Gavan Breen provisionally includes Minkabari and theNgura dialect Pitjara/Bidjara/Bitharra, which together have been called theBulloo River language.[2]Breen is partly responsible for the variation in the spelling of the name 'Kalali'. The formsGarlali andGalarli are due to what he now considers a non-distinctive instance of retroflexrl, and he prefers the spellingKalali.
Both theKalali and theWanggumara people apparently lived by theBulloo River and theWilson River inSouth West Queensland. There is some debate whether they originated by the Bulloo River and migrated to the Wilson River or vice versa. For instance, Breen posited that some groups in south-west Queensland had abandoned their original languages (but not their names) and adopted theWilson River language in the early days of Australian colonial settlement, when people moved from Thargomindah and the middle Bulloo River toNockatunga (near the modern town of Noccundra).
The Bulloo River Kalali lived around the area fromThargomindah southward to the Currawinya Lakes and perhaps west to Bulloo Lakes and north to Norley Station. Bulloo River Kalali was studied by Breen (from a speaker named Charlie Phillips). The informant Charlie Phillips aged 74 years, born at Backwood Station south of Hungerford in south-west Queensland, spoke the language fluently and confidently despite having not used the language conversationally for 40 years.
A language labelled "Wonkomarra" in Myles (1886) is a different language from modern Wangkumara, and may be a variety of Kalali. On the other hand, the language spoken by the Kalali people that Wurm labelled "Waŋkumara (Gaḷali)" was a variety of Wangkumara.
Kullilli Ngulkana is alanguage revival initiative founded by brothers Toby Adams and Daryl Docherty. Adams' father was one of theStolen Generations, having been taken as a child from hisQuilpie home to theAboriginal reserve atCherbourg, and Adams became determined to reconnect to his culture and language. After meeting linguistClaire Bowern ofYale University, who had previously worked with Kullilielders to produce language resources, the pair started working together. The project has started to develop a dictionary and other learning resources for the language, including amobile phone app. The state school atThargomindah is also working with Adams, looking at incorporating language learning into their curriculum.[3][4]
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