Ayabadhu (Ayapathu), or Badhu, is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of the Paman family spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of North Queensland, Australia by the Ayapathu people.: 17 The Ayabadhu language region includes the Cook Shire and the areas around Coen and Port Stewart.
Verstraete and Rigsby (2015) determined that Ayabadhu and Yintyingka, spoken by the Yintyingka and Lamalama and previously known as coastal Ayapathu, are closely related and dialects of the same language.: 51 They also found these dialects to be "structurally different" to Western Ayapathu. The name Yintjinggu/Jintjingga has been used for both Ayabadhu and the neighboring Umbindhamu language.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
- Consonants may show gemination [Cː] when in intervocalic position after a stressed initial-syllable with a short vowel.
- Voicing among stops may be heard as [b, ɡ, d̪, ɟ, d] when following nasal sounds, or within the onset of a third syllable in trisyllablic words.
- /t/ may also have a trilled allophone [tʳ] within the onset of a second syllable.
- /w/ may also be heard as a fricative [β] or an approximant [β̞] within intervocalic positions.
Vocabulary
Some words from the Ayabadhu language, as spelt and written by Ayabadhu authors include:
- 'Agu: land
- 'Eka: head
- Kaleny: uncle
- Kangka: leaf
- Ko'on: magpie goose
- Kuche: two
- Mayi: food
- Punga: sun
- Wanthi punga: good day
References
