Yir-Yoront language

Yir-Yoront was a Paman language spoken in two settlements, Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, by the Yir-Yoront people. In 1991 only 15 speakers remained,^[2] with the rest of the Yir-Yoront people speaking English or even Kuuk Thaayorre as many speakers of Yir-Yoront apparently are using Kuuk Thaayorre in daily conversation.^[3] At present it is thought to be extinct.^[4] There are two sister dialects, Yir-Yoront proper and Yirrk-Thangalkl, which are very close. The shared name Yir is sometimes used for both taken together.

Yir-Yoront
Yir
Native to	Australia
Region	Cape York Peninsula, Queensland
Ethnicity	Yir-Yoront
Extinct	by 2005[1]
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Paman Southwestern Coastal Yir-Yoront
Dialects	Yirr-Thutjim (Yir-Yoront) Yirrk-Thangalkl (Yirrk-Mel)
Signed forms	Yir Yoront Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: yyr – Yir Yoront yrm – Yirrk-Mel
Glottolog	yiry1247 yiry1245  bookkeeping with bibliography
AIATSIS[1]	Y72 Yir Yoront, Y214 Yirrk-Thangalkl
ELP	Yir-Yoront
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Names

The first part of both of the name, Yir, is from the word yirrq meaning speech or language. Following is the ethnonym.^[5]

Yir-Yoront is written hyphenated as a way of indicating that the syllable following the hyphen is stressed. In the standard orthography, it is correctly spelled Yirr-Yorront, with "rr" representing the consonant /r/. There is a valid alternative pronunciation with stress on the first syllable; this can be written YirrqYorront. Other spellings encountered include Yir Yoront and Jir Joront.

Other names for the language include:

• Yirr-Thuchm: Meaning "from the sandridges"
• Kok-Minychen: The name of the Yir-Yoront in the Koko-Bera language
  • Koko-Minychena: Alternative spelling
  • Kokomindjen: Alternative spelling
  • Mandjoen: Alternative spelling
  • Mind'jana: Alternative spelling
  • Mundjun: Alternative spelling
  • Myunduno: Alternative spelling
• Kuuk-Thaanhon: The name of the Yir-Yoront in the Kuuk Thaayorre language
• Gwandera: A name incorrectly applied to the Yir-Yoront people and their language
• Millera: No source available

Phonology

The following description is for Yir-Yoront proper. For another dialect, see Yirrk-Thangalkl dialect.

Vowels

Yir-Yoront has 6 vowels:

	Front	Central	Back
	Unrounded	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Mid		ə
Open		a

Consonants

Yir-Yoront has 20 consonants:

	Peripheral		Laminal		Apical		Glottal
	Bilabial	Velar	Postalveolar /Palatal	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex
Nasal	m ⟨m⟩	ŋ ⟨ng⟩	ɲ ⟨ny⟩	n̪ ⟨nh⟩	n ⟨n⟩	ɳ ⟨rn⟩
Plosive	p ⟨p⟩	k ⟨k⟩	c ⟨ch⟩	t̪ ⟨th⟩	t ⟨t⟩	ʈ ⟨rt⟩	ʔ ⟨q⟩
Tap					ɾ ⟨rr⟩
Lateral				l̪ ⟨lh⟩	l ⟨l⟩	ɭ ⟨rl⟩
Approximant	w ⟨w⟩		j ⟨y⟩			ɻ ⟨r⟩

Sign language

Main article: Australian Aboriginal sign languages

The Yir Yoront have (or had) a well-developed signed form of their language.^[6] It may have had some influence in the broader Far North Queensland Indigenous Sign Language, though it may have gone extinct too early for that.

External links

• Paradisec has language materials for Yir Yoront as part of the Arthur Capell collection (AC1) and the Barry Alpher collection (BA1)