Gubbi Gubbi language
Australian Aboriginal language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gubbi Gubbi, also spelt Kabi Kabi, is a language of Queensland in Australia, formerly spoken by the Kabi Kabi people of South-east Queensland. The main dialect, Gubbi Gubbi, is extinct, but there are still 24 people with knowledge of the Butchulla dialect (also spelt Batjala, Batyala, Badjala, and variants), a language spoken by the Butchulla people of K'gari (Fraser Island).
-
Waka–Kabic
- Than
- Gubbi Gubbi
- Than
| Gubbi Gubbi | |
|---|---|
| Kabi Kabi, Kabi | |
| Region | Queensland |
| Ethnicity | Kabi Kabi (Kabi), Butchulla (incl. Ngulungbara) |
Native speakers | 24 (2016 census, Batjala dialect)[1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Official status | |
Official language in | Aboriginal Shire of Cherbourg |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:gbw – Kabi-Kabixby – Batyala |
| Glottolog | kabi1260 |
| AIATSIS[2] | E29 Gubbi Gubbi, E30 Butchulla |
| ELP | Gubbi Gubbi |
| Batyala | |
Map of traditional lands of Aboriginal Australians around Brisbane; Gubbi Gubbi in yellow and Butchulla in light grey | |
 Badjala is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Language status
The main dialect is extinct, but there were still 24 people with knowledge of the Butchulla dialect (a language spoken by the Butchulla people of K'gari formerly known as Fraser Island) as of the 2016 Australian census.[1]
Phonology
The following is in the Butchulla dialect:
Consonants
- /n̪/ always becomes palatal [ɲ] when preceding /i/, and in word-final position.
- /d̪/ is in free variation with palatal [ɟ].
- /b d̪ ɡ/ can have lenited allophones [β ð ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
- /ɻ/ has a lateral allophone of [ɭ] when preceding /b/.
- /ɡ/ is often slightly palatalised as [ɡʲ] before /i/.
Vowels
Lexicon
According to Norman Tindale (1974), the word Kabi (['kabi]), means "no".[2]
Wunya ngulum means "Welcome, everyone" in Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi.[4]
