It has been suggested that portions of this article besplit out into another article titledBundjalung language. (Discuss)(January 2025)

Yugambeh–Bandjalangic
Geographic distribution	Queensland andNew South Wales,Australia
Ethnicity	Bundjalung people (Minyungbal,Widjabal),Western Bundjalung people,Githabul,Yugambeh people
Native speakers	670 (2021 census)[1]
Linguistic classification	Pama–Nyungan Southeastern North Coast Yugambeh–Bandjalangic
Subdivisions	Wahlubal Yugambeh Bundjalung proper (Lower Richmond) Githabul
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bdy
Glottolog	band1339
ELP	Bandjalang
Bandjalangic languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan)
Bundjalung is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Yugambeh–Bundjalung, also known asBandjalangic, is a branch of thePama–Nyungan language family that is spoken in north-easternNew South Wales andSouth-East Queensland.

Yugambeh–Bundjalung was historically a dialect continuum consisting of a number ofvarieties includingYugambeh, Nganduwal, Minjangbal, Njangbal (Nyangbal), Biriin, Baryulgil, Waalubal, Dinggabal, Wiyabal, Gidabal, Galibal, and Wudjeebal. Language varieties in the group vary in degree of mutual intelligibility, with varieties at different ends of the continuum being mostly unintelligible.^[2] These dialects formed four clusters:

• Tweed-Albert language (Yugambeh)
• Condamine-Upper Clarence (Githabul)
• Lower Richmond (Eastern Bundjalung – Nyangbal, Minyangbal and Bandjalang proper)
• Middle Clarence (Western Bundjalung)

Bowern (2011) lists Yugambeh, Githabul, Minyangbal, and Bandjalang as separateBandjalangic languages.^[3] All Yugambeh–Bundjalung languages are nearly extinct. Bandjalang proper has the greatest number of speakers, with 113, while the other dialects have a total of 26 speakers.^[4]

Gowar (Guwar) andPimpama may be related to the Bandjalangic languages rather than toDurubalic.

The Yugambeh–Bundjalung language chain is spoken by numerous social/cultural groups, some of whom have historically preferred to identify with their particular dialect name, e.g. Githabul or Yugambeh, especially as some groups do not see particular varieties as being 'the same language'.

W. E. Smythe, a doctor in Casino, knew the Bundjalung quite well, noting in his time that the language was spoken widely. He compiled a grammar of the Casino dialect in the 1940s, mistakenly believing he was writing a grammar for the whole language group. When speaking of the name of the language he noted:

'For the linguistic group as a whole I have used the term 'Bandjalang', with which some may disagree. Among the people themselves there is a good deal of confusion. Some say the tribal name should be 'Beigal[Baygal]' (man, people), others that there never was any collective name, while others again state that 'Bandjalang', besides being the specific name of one of the local groups, was also in use as a covering term for all. For convenience I am doing the same.'^[2]

Adding to the confusion is the use of multiple names by different groups, i.e. what one group calls another may not be what it calls itself, or the name of a dialect may change, e.g. Terry Crowley was originally toldWehlubal for the Baryulgil dialect, while a later researcher was givenWirribi.

The earliest sources of anthropological work, which date from the mid to late 1800s, do not give a name for the entire language chain; however, it is clear from sources that particular writers were aware of it, in most instances referring to it by their local variety name or with a descriptor like 'this language with slight variation'. It was not until the early 1900s, with the advent of Aboriginal Protection Boards, that non-Indigenous sources begin overtly naming wider language groups; this naming, however, was instead of local dialect and clan names, which were subsumed under the board's chosen name. Yugambeh–Bundjalung's position at the Queensland–NSW border led to two standard terms: Yugambeh/Yugumbir on the Queensland side and Bundjalung/Bandjalang on the NSW side. It was for this reason that Margaret Sharpe named the chain Yugambeh–Bundjalung, the terms being the most northerly and southerly respectively as well.^[5]

Modern Yugambeh–Bundjalung-speaking peoples are often aware of and use the overarching termsYugambeh andBundjalung, some groups in conjunction with their own name e.g. Byron Bay Bundjalung– Arakwal.^[6] As these words also refer to individual dialects some groups object to their usage, Crowley and Sharpe both agree that Yugambeh referred to the Beaudesert dialect, also known by the clan name Mununjali, and Bundjalung originally referred to the Bungawalbin Creek/Coraki dialect, though the Tabulam people claim they are the original Bundjalung, and use Bandjalang in opposition.^[5][7]

Yugambeh–Bandjalang is spoken over a wide geographic area, from thePacific Ocean to the east and theLogan River catchment as the northern boundary, theClarence River forming the south and south-western boundaries, and theNorthern Tablelands marking the western boundary.^[7]

Many of the dialects and branches are confined by natural features such as river basins, mountain ranges, and dense bushland.

Yugambeh–Bundjalung or justBundjalung is used as a cover term for thedialect chain as well as to refer to certain individual dialects. At the time of the first European settlement in the mid-1800s, the Yugambeh–Bundjalung peoples on the north coast of New South Wales and southeast of Queensland spoke up to twenty related dialects. Today only about nine remain. All were mutually intelligible with neighbouring dialects. The dialects form recognisable clusters that share phonological and morphological features, as well as having higher degrees of mutual intelligibility.^[7]

Until the 1970s all language and linguistic work to date had been undertaken on individual varieties, with major work on grammar undertaken onGithabul, Minyangbal, Yugambeh, and the Casino dialect.^[8][9][10]Terry Crowley was the first to publish a study of the wider Bandjalangic language group, titled "The middle Clarence dialects of Bandjalang"; it included previously unpublished research on the Casino dialect as an appendix. Crowley analysed not only the vocabulary but also the grammar of the varieties, including comparative cognate figures and examples from various dialects.^[7]

Varieties of Yugambeh-Bundjalung may have a vowel system of either three or four vowels that also contrast in length, resulting in either six or eightphonemic vowels in total.^[11]

In practical orthography and some descriptions of the language, the letter⟨h⟩ is often used after the vowel to indicate a long vowel.^[11]

Vowel alternations

/a/ and/e/ areneutralised as[ɛ] before/j/.

The low central vowel/a/ can befronted andraised following apalatal consonant, andbacked following avelar consonant.^[11]

Unstressed short vowels can bereduced to the neutral central vowelschwa[ə] in a similar way to English.^[11]

Yugambeh–Bundjalung has a smaller inventory of consonant phonemes than is typical of most Australian languages, having only four contrastiveplaces of articulation and only onelateral and onerhotic phoneme.

Obstruents

Although the standard IPA symbols used in transcription of the language are thevoiced stop symbols, these segments are better characterised asobstruents because they are realised more often asfricatives oraffricates than actual stops. There is no contrast in Yugambeh-Bundjalung between thesemanners of articulation.^[11]

Yugambeh–Bundjalung varieties do not havevoicing contrasts for their obstruent sequences, and so phonological literature varies in its representation of these consonants- some linguists have chosen the symbols/p/,/k/,/c/,/t/, and others have decided upon/b/,/g/,/ɟ/,/d/. Generally, these consonants are phonetically voiceless, except when following ahomorganicnasal segment.^[11]

Nasals

When nasal stops occur syllable-finally, they are often produced with astop onset as afree variant.^[11]

Lateral

The lateral phoneme can appear as aflap rather than anapproximant, and sometimes occurs prestopped as a free variant in the same way as nasals.^[11]

Rhotic

The rhotic phoneme has severalsurface realisations in Yugambeh–Bundjalung. Between vowels, it tends to be aflap, although it can sometimes be anapproximant, and it is usually atrill at the end of syllables.^[11]

Semi-vowels

The existence of semi-vowels in Yugambeh–Bundjalung can be disputed, as in many Australian languages. Some linguists posit their existence in order to avoid an analysis that involvesonset-less syllables, which are usually held to be non-existent in Australian languages. Some phonologists have found that semi-vowels can be replaced withglottal stops in some varieties of Yugambeh–Bundjalung.^[11]

Yugambeh–Bundjalung is astress-timed language and isquantity-sensitive, with stress being assigned to syllables with long vowels. Short unstressed vowels tend to be reduced to the neutral vowel schwa.^[11]

Like many Australian languages, Yugambeh–Bundjalung is thought to have a constraint that states that all syllables must have a consonant onset. Only vowels are permitted as thesyllable nucleus, and these may be long or short. Syllablecodas are also permitted, with long or short vowels in the nucleus. However, long vowels are not permitted to occur in adjacent syllables.^[11]

Consonant clusters

Yugambeh–Bundjalung does not permitclusters of the same consonant, or clusters that begin with an obstruent phoneme or end with an approximant, except the labio-velar glide. All homorganic nasal-obstruent clusters occur in the language. Clusters usually only involve two segments, but clusters of three may occur if an intervening vowel is deleted by some process.^[11]

Cognate comparison between the most southern and northern dialects, Bandjalang (Proper) and Yugambeh (Proper), shows 52% similarity. Cognate similarity is highest between dialects within branches, typically being ~80%, these percentages are even higher amongst the Tweed–Albert dialects at ~90%. Between branches of the family this rate falls to ~60–70% between neighbouring clusters.^[7]

Some vocabulary differences in common vocabulary are present:

'What/something' –nyang in southern varieties contrasts withminyang in northern varieties. (Both were used in the centrally located Lismore dialect).

The northernTweed-Albert language havemibin for 'man' andjalgany for 'woman', compared to the use ofbaygal anddubay by other varieties respectively. The difference in words for men is significant as groups often use it for identification as well as a language name (Mibinah = language lit. 'of man',Baygalnah = language lit. 'of man').

Another vocabulary isogloss isjabu ('boy') andmih ('eye') used in all branches, except theMiddle-Clarence language which usesjanagan andjiyaw respectively.^[7][5]

A north to south shift of /a/ to /e/ (with an intermittent /i/ present in some varieties) in some common vocabulary.

'Who':ngahn/ngihn/ngehn

'You':wahlu/wihlu/wehlu

A north to south shift of /i/ to /a/ (with an intermittent/e/ present in some varieties) occurring on the demonstrative set.

'This':gali/gale/gala

'That':mali/male/mala

A shift of /a/ to /u/ in the Tweed-Albert dialects.

'No':yugam/yagam

'Vegetable':nungany/nangany^[12]

Crowley's research found a number of grammar differences between the varieties and clusters. Further research by Dr. Margaret Sharpe detailed these finer differences.

All varieties within the family use suffixes to decline nouns. Most are universal; however, there are a few poignant differences. A complex system exists whereby suffixes are categorised into orders, with the order and use governed by universal rules.

A past and non-past form of the locative exists inGithabul,Yugambeh and Minyangbal.

The abessive-djam is present in Yugambeh and Githabul, being used on nouns and verbs (use on verbs does not occur further south).

A system of marking fourgrammatical genders (two animate – human and animal, and two inanimate – arboreal and neuter) with the use of suffixes is present in three of the clusters. The morphological forms and usage of these gender suffixes vary between the clusters, with some dialects marking both demonstratives and adjectives, others marking solely adjectives.

The extensive use of suffixes extends to verbs as well; the suffix system is the same throughout the language group with a few minor differences.

The imminent aspect (used in other varieties for most instances that use the English future tense) has shifted in theTweed-Albert Language to an irrealis mode, now denoting the potential mood, while the continuous aspect in conjunction with a time word is now used for future tense situations.

Example of differences in -hny suffix usage:

The purposive suffix is -yah in the Tweed–Albert and Condamine–Upper Clarence languages, while it is -gu in the other two branches.

• Bundjalung people
• Bundjalung Nation Timeline
• Dirawong
• List of Aboriginal languages of New South Wales

• Crowley, Terry (1978).The middle Clarence dialects of Bandjalang. Smythe, W. E. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.ISBN 0855750650.OCLC 6041138.
• Cunningham, Margaret C. (1969). "A description of the Yugumbir dialect of Bundjalung".University of Queensland Papers, Faculty of Arts.1 (8).
• Geytenbeek, Brain B. (1964). "Morphology of the regular verbs of Gidabul".Papers on the Languages of the Australian Aborigines.
• Geytenbeek, Brian B.; Getenbeek, Helen (1971).Gidabal grammar and dictionary. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.ISBN 9780855750190.
• Geytenbeek, Helen (1964). "Personal pronouns of Gidabul".Papers on the languages of the Australian Aborigines. Occasional Papers in Aboriginal Studies. Vol. 3. Sydney: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies. pp. 91–100.
• Holmer, Nils M. (1971).Notes on the Bundjalung Dialect. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.ISBN 0855750219.
• Sharpe, Margaret C. (1994).An all-dialect dictionary of Bunjalung, an Australian language no longer in general use.
• Sharpe, Margaret C. (2005). "Yugambeh–Bundjalung Dialects".Grammar and texts of the Yugambeh–Bundjalung dialect chain in eastern Australia. Muenchen: Lincom Europa.ISBN 3895867845.OCLC 62185149.

• Bibliography of Bundjalung language and people resources, at theAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
• Bibliography of Arakwal language and people resourcesArchived 18 May 2015 at theWayback Machine, at theAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

• Yugambeh–Bundjalung languages
• Bundjalung people
• Endangered indigenous Australian languages in New South Wales
• Severely endangered languages

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