| Yuin–Kuric | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | New South Wales,ACT, and SEQueensland,Australia |
| Ethnicity | Yuin,Eora,Koori |
| Linguistic classification | Pama–Nyungan
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | yuin1243 |
 Yuin–Kuric languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan). From southwest to northeast, the three groups are Yuin, Yora, and Kuri. | |
TheYuin–Kuric languages are a group of mainly extinctAustralian Aboriginal languages traditionally spoken in the south east ofAustralia. They belong in thePama–Nyungan family.[1] These languages are divided into theYuin,Kuri, andYora groups, although exact classifications vary between researchers.[2] Yuin–Kuric languages were spoken by the original inhabitants of what are now the cities ofSydney andCanberra.
The name of this grouping was coined byWilhelm Schmidt in 1919,[3] and it refers to the two groups which define the geographical extent of the subgroup. The labels of all three subgroups reflect the word for 'man' or 'Aboriginal person' in their respective included languages.
Thekoala is named from the wordgula for the animal in theDharug language,[4] a Yuin–Kuri language within the Yora group, and the same word occurs in other Yuin–Kuri languages, such as Gundungurra,[5] within the Yuin group.
As of 2020[update], Yuin is listed as one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by theDepartment of Communications and the Arts. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".[6]
The constituent languages are groups are arranged from southwest to northeast:
TheYuin (southern) group includes:
The Yora or Iyora (central) group is accepted by Dixon.[8]
They were spoken in the region ofSydney.
TheKuri (northern) group has been reduced to its southernmost languages:
Languages once classified as Kuric includeYugambal,Yuggarabul (Yuggera), andNganyaywana (Anaiwan) further north.
Jeremy Steele's partial reconstruction of the Sydney language[10] includes a comparison of pronouns in several Yuin–Kuric languages. The following partial and simplified version shows some of the similarities and differences across the family:
| Language | Group | I | You (singular) | He | We two (inclusive) | We two (exclusive) | We all (inclusive) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gundungurra | Yuin | gula-ngGa, gula-nga | gulandyi | dhanaladhu | gulanga | gulangala(ng) | gulanyan, gulambanya(n) |
| Tharawal | Yuin | ngayagang(ga) | nyindigang | namarang | ngulgang | ngangaling(ga) | nyulgang(ga) |
| Awabakal | Kuri | ngaduwa | nginduwa | nyuwuwa | bali | balinuwa | ngiyin |
| Darkinjung | Yora | ngaya | nyindi, ngindi | nuwa | ngaliya | ngungaliya | ngiyang |
| Dharug | Yora | ngaya | nyindi, ngindi | nanu | ngali | — | — |