| Umpithamu | |
|---|---|
| Umbindhamu | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Cape York Peninsula,Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Umpithamu,Lamalama, possiblyBarungguan |
Native speakers | 1-10 (2018-19)[1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | umd |
| Glottolog | umbi1243 |
| AIATSIS[1] | Y50 |
| ELP | Umpithamu |
Umpithamu, also speltUmbindhamu, is anAustralian Aboriginal language of theCape York Peninsula,Queensland, Australia.
Though generally accepted as a branch of thePaman languages, Dixon believes it to be anisolate. According to Rigsby (1997), Umpithamu shares some grammatical features with the other languages spoken by the Lamalama people, but it shares more lexicon withAyapathu andUmpila.[1]
In 2008, Verstraete wrote that there were four languages associated with theLamalama people: Umpithamu,Morrobolam,Mba Rumbathama (Mbarrumbathama, Lamalama) andRimanggudinhma language (Mbariman-Gudhinma).[1] In 2020, he spoke of five languages associated with the Lamalama people, but the name of the fifth is not recorded in the article.[2]
He is quoted byAustlang from his 2018 work,The Genetic Status of Lamalamic, that Lamalama, Rimanggudinhma and Morrobolam form agenetic subgroup of Paman known as Lamalamic, "defined by shared innovations in phonology and morphology".[3]
"Yintjinggu/Jintjingga" is a place name used for both Umpithamu and the neighbouringAyabadhu language.[1][4]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | iiː | uuː |
| Mid | ɛɛː | ɔɔː |
| Low | aaː |
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Dental | Alveolar | ||
| Plosive | p | k | c | t̪ | t | ʔ |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n̪ | n | |
| Trill | r | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ɹ | |||
In July 2020,A Dictionary of Umpithamu was published, compiled byFlemish linguist Jean-Christophe Verstraete, with main language consultants Florrie Bassani and her niece Joan Liddy.[2][5]