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Pakanha language facts for kids

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Pakanha
Ayabakan
Native to Australia
Region Cape York Peninsula, Queensland
Ethnicity Ayabakan
Extinct 1990se25
No known L1 speakers
Language family
Dialects
Western Ayapathu
AIATSIS Y64 Pakanh, Y181
Lang Status 01-EX.svg
Pakanha is an extinct language according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Pakanha (Bakanha), or Ayabakan, is a nearly extinct Paman language spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia. In 1981, there were 10 speakers of the language, originally spoken by the aboriginal Pakanha people in the central part of the Cape York Peninsula.

Phonology

Vowels

Pakanha has 5 vowel qualities:

Short Long
Front Central Back Front Central Back
Close i /i/ u /u ~ ʊ/ ii /iː/ uu /uː/
Mid e /e ~ e̞/ o /o ~ ɔ/ ee /ɛː/ oo /oː/
Open a /a ~ ə/ aa /aː/

Consonants

Pakanha has 15 consonants:

Peripheral Laminal Apical Glottal
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p /p/ k /k/ ch /c/ th /t̪/ t /t/ ' /ʔ/
Nasal m /m/ ng /ŋ/ ny /ɲ/ nh /n̪/ n /n/
Trill rr /r/
Approximant w /w/ y /j/ l /l/ r /ɻ /

Vocabulary/Topical Index

The following is a sample of words from a comparative wordlist/topical index produced by Philip Hamilton. The Pakanha words are accompanied by corresponding words from the distantly related Uw Olkola and Uw Oykangand languages:

(P) = Pakanha, (Olk) = Uw Olkola, (Oyk) = Uw Oykangand.

The Body:

  • Body
    • nhangka (P)
    • idnhan (Olk, Oyk)
    • elpan (Olk)
  • Head
    • wele (P)
    • eka (Olk)
    • e.g. (Oyk)
  • Fontanel
    • wele ngangka (P)
    • ek ulpar (Olk)
    • e.g. ulbar (Oyk)
  • Skull
    • yenkan (P)
    • ek obher (Olk)
    • e.g. opher (Oyk)

In popular culture

The Pakanha word for the eastern grey kangaroo, kucha, was used as the name of a tribe on the second season of the American reality television series, Survivor in 2001.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Idioma pakanha para niños

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Pakanha language Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.