Yolŋu Matha
Yuulngu
Geographic distribution	In northeasternArnhem Land, includingElcho Island,Crocodile Islands,Wessel Islands, English Company's Islands,Northern Territory, Australia
Ethnicity	Yolngu
Native speakers	4,600
Linguistic classification	Pama–Nyungan Yolŋu Matha
Subdivisions	Signed form: Yolŋu Sign Language
Language codes
Glottolog	yuul1239
Yolŋu languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan)

Yolŋu Matha (IPA:[ˈjuːlŋuˈmat̪a]), meaning "the Yolŋu tongue", is alinguistic family that includes the languages of theYolŋu clans, who areAboriginal peoples of northeastArnhem Land in northern Australia.

The family of languages includes theDhangu-Djangu;Nhangu;Dhuwal;Ritharngu;Djinang; andDjinba languages.

Yolŋu Matha consists of about six languages, some mutually intelligible, divided into about thirty clan varieties and perhaps twelve differentdialects, each with its own Yolŋu name. Put together, in 2002 there were about 4600 speakers of Yolŋu Matha languages.Exogamy has often meant that mothers and fathers speak different languages, so that children traditionally grew up at least bilingual, and in many casespolylingual, meaning that communication was facilitated by mastery of multiple languages and dialects of Yolŋu Matha.

The linguistic situation is very complicated, given that each of the 30 or so clans also has a named language variety. Dixon (2002) distinguishes the following:^[1]

Bowern (2011) adds the varieties in parentheses as distinct languages.

The consonant inventory is basically the same across Yolŋu varieties, although some varieties show minor differences.^[2]

Yolŋu languages have afortis–lenis contrast inplosive consonants. Lenis/short plosives have weak contact and intermittent voicing, while fortis/long plosives have full closure, a more powerful release burst, and no voicing.

A three-way vowel distinction is shared between Yolŋu varieties, though not all Yolŋu varieties have a contrast invowel length. In the varieties that do have a length contrast, long vowels occur only in the initial syllable of words.^[3]

The 1963Yirrkala bark petitions, a significant political statement asserting their rights to land, were written by elders of various Yolngu clans atYirrkala mission and submitted to theParliament of Australia, were written in a standardised Yolngu script developed by the missionary Beulah Lowe, based on Yolngu Matha languages, together with an English translation.^[4] One source suggests that it was based on theGupapuyngu language^[5]

The filmsTen Canoes (2006) andCharlie's Country (2013), both directed byRolf de Heer and featuring actorDavid Gulpilil, feature dialogue in Yolŋu Matha.Ten Canoes was the first feature film to be shot entirely in Australian indigenous languages, with the dialogue largely in the Ganalbiŋu variety of Yolŋu Matha.

Dr. G. Yunupingu was a popular Australian singer who sang in the Gumatj dialect of Yolŋu Matha, as did the Aboriginal rock groupYothu Yindi.

Baker Boy, from the community ofMilingimbi in North EasternArnhem Land, released the song "Cloud 9" in 2017, in which he raps in Yolŋu Matha.^[6] AsYoung Australian of the Year in 2019, theInternational Year of Indigenous Languages, and with two of his songs in the2019 Triple J Hottest 100,^[7] he raised the profile of Yolŋu Matha in mainstream media as well as giving people at home pride in their language.^[8][9][10]

Dictionaries have been produced by Beulah Lowe,David Zorc and Michael Christie. A free, web-basedsearchable dictionary created by John Greatorex was launched in February 2015 byCharles Darwin University.

There are also several grammars of Yolŋu languages by Jeffrey Heath, Frances Morphy, Melanie Wilkinson and others.^[11]

A graduate certificate in Yolŋu studies is offered atCharles Darwin University, teaching Yolŋu kinship, law and the Gupapuyŋu language variety.

ABCIndigenous News Radio broadcasts a news program in Yolngu Matha and also inWarlpiri on weekdays. TheAboriginal Resource and Development Services (ARDS) broadcast live radio in northeast Arnhem Land, Darwin and Palmerston and provide recordings of past programs on the internet.^[12]

• Gakal 'skill, talent, ability'
• Bäru 'crocodile'
• Gapumirr 'with water' (bucket with water), 'watery'.^[13]
• Manymak 'good, OK'
• Yol orYo (pronounced 'yo') 'yes'
• Yo manymak when used together the expression can be synonymous with either of its two component words and also used as a friendly greeting, the 'o' inyo is usually held for longer when used as part of this expression.
• Yaka 'ghost'
• Yothu 'child'
• Akka ‘sister’
• Yindi 'big'
• Yothu Yindi denotes the link between two different entities which is characterised as a mother-child relationship.^[14]

Like other languages of the Top End, Yolŋu-Matha contains many loanwords fromAustronesian languages due to abundant contact with seafaring peoples from theIndonesian archipelago.^{[15][16][17][18]} Walker and Zorc^[15] have identified 179 Yolŋu-Matha words that are clearly of Austronesian origin, and have identified a further 70 possible Austronesian loanwords requiring further study.

Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:^[19]

• Wilkinson, Melanie; Marika, Raymatta; Williams, Nancy M. (2009)."17. 'This place already has a name'". InHercus, Luise; Koch, Harold (eds.).Aboriginal Placenames: Naming and Re-naming the Australian Landscape. Aboriginal History Monographs. ANU E Press.ISBN 978-1-921666-09-4.

• "About Yolngu".Nhulunbuy Corporation. Archived fromthe original on 20 February 2020.
• Yolngu.net: grammar, vocabulary, history (archived 27 April 2012)
• Aboriginal Resource and Development Services (ARDS) & Yolngu Radio
• Watson, Helen and David Wade Chambers (with the Yolngu community at Yirrkala).Singing the Land, Signing the Land.Deakin University.
• Melourr Gapu Dhularrpa Gawiya Madayin (law) in Yolngu and English] (archived 11 August 2007)
• Study Yolŋu Studies at CDU (Charles Darwin University)

• Yolŋu languages
• Yolngu
• Indigenous Australian languages in the Northern Territory

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from February 2026
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use Australian English from August 2018
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from August 2018
• Language articles with speaker number undated
• Pages with Australian languages IPA
• Articles containing uncoded-language text
• Articles containing Dhangu-Djangu-language text
• Articles containing Yan-nhangu-language text
• Articles containing Gupapuyngu-language text
• Articles containing Djambarrpuyngu-language text
• Articles containing Dayi-language text
• Articles containing Ritharrngu-language text
• Articles containing Gumatj-language text
• Articles containing Djinba-language text
• Articles containing Djinang-language text