| Luritja | |
|---|---|
| Region | Western Australia,Northern Territory:Papunya,Kings Canyon,Aputula |
| Ethnicity | Luritja |
Native speakers | 1,300 (2021 census)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | piu Shared withPintupi |
| Glottolog | pint1250 |
| AIATSIS[2] | C7.1 |
TheLuritja dialect is the language of theLuritja people, anAboriginal Australian group indigenous to parts of theNorthern Territory andWestern Australia. It is one of several dialects in theWestern Desert language group.
The nameluritja is thought to derive from theArrernte wordlurinya,[what language is this?] 'foreigner'. It appears to have originally been applied by Arrernte speakers to people of the Western Desert Language group who had relocated onto Arrernte lands in the process of moving (or being moved) from remote desert areas to the region closer toAlice Springs. Over time younger generations have taken on the term as theirethnonym, possibly unaware of its origin.[3]
The total population of Luritja people (including Papunya Luritja) is probably in the thousands, making them the third largest of theCentral Australian Aboriginal populations, behindArrernte andPitjantjatjara.
The Luritja lands include areas to the west and south of Alice Springs, extending around the edge ofArrernte country. The area surroundingPapunya, includingMount Liebig is often referred to as Papunya Luritja, both in land and language, while areas to the south-east aroundAputula and Maryvale are often referred to as Titjikala Luritja (Maryvale is the name of the cattle station on Titjikala land). The area aroundUlpanyali and Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon) is also referred to as Luritja country and the dialect of Luritja spoken there is referred to as Southern Luritja (it is identical to Titjikala Luritja). The variety of Luritja spoken atKintore is often referred to as Pintupi/Luritja.
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Velar | (Alveolo-) palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
| Plosive | p | k | t̠ʲ | t | ʈ |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | n̠ʲ | n | ɳ |
| Lateral | l̠ʲ | l | ɭ | ||
| Rhotic | ɾ | ||||
| Approximant | w | j | ɻ | ||
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː |
| Low | a aː | |
Papunya Luritja is the variety of Luritja spoken around the community of Papunya, and also west throughMount Liebig to Kintore. Like Luritja generally, Papunya Luritja is a dialect of theWestern Desert Language and is closely related to thePintupi language of the area around Kintore and further west. Papunya Luritja has probably also been influenced by western varieties of Arrernte as well as Warlpiri.
This variety is also a dialect of theWestern Desert Language spoken inTitjikala. While it is quite similar to Papunya Luritja, it shows notable differences probably having been derived mostly fromPitjantjatjara as well as being influenced byAntakarinya and the more southern varieties of Arrernte.
The Luritja area relies heavily on the sale of artwork; Luritja artwork has a large number of famous artists and many companies that specifically cater for the sale of Luritja art. ThePapunya Tula company in particular is world-renowned for its artists, most of whom reside atPapunya and Kintore.