Hosta

Kuku-Thaypan is an extinct Paman language spoken on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, by the Kuku-Thaypan people. The language was sometimes called Alaya or Awu Alaya.^[3] Koko-Rarmul may have been a dialect,^[4] though Bowern (2012) lists Gugu-Rarmul and Kuku-Thaypan as separate languages.^[5] The last native speaker, Tommy George, died on 29 July 2016 in Cooktown Hospital.^[6]

Phonology

Vowels

Kuku-Thaypan has six vowels and two marginal vowels possibly only in loan words.^[7]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e		o
Mid			(ɔ)
Open	(æ)	a

Sounds /æ/ and /ɔ/ are only marginal, as phonemes.
/e/ is heard as [ɛ] when after palatals and /j/.

Consonants

Kuku-Thaypan has 23 consonants.^[7]

		Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
		Labial	Velar	Dental	Palatal	Alveolar	Retroflex
Plosive	voiceless	p	k	t̪	c	t
Plosive	prenasal	ᵐb	ᵑɡ	ⁿ̪d̪	ᶮɟ	ⁿd
Fricative		β	ɣ	ð
Nasal		m	ŋ	n̪	ɲ	n
Rhotic						r
Lateral						l
Approximant		w			j		ɻ

/r/ may be heard as a voiceless trill [r̥] when in initial position.
/r/ may freely be heard as a tap [ɾ] or trill [r].

References

^ A "legend", Indigenous Australian Leader, Knowledge Holder Tommy George Passes On.
^ Y84 Kuku Thaypan at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
^ Jean-Christophe Verstraete, Diane Hafner, Land and Language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country (ISBN 902726760X, 2016)
^ RMW Dixon (2002), Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, p xxxii
^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
^ A "legend", Indigenous Australian Leader, Knowledge Holder Tommy George Passes On.
^ ^a ^b Rigsby, Bruce (1976). "Kuku-Thaypan descriptive and historical phonology". In Sutton, P. (ed.). Languages of Cape York. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. pp. 68–77.

External links

Bibliography of Kuku Thaypan people and language resources, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

[1] A "legend", Indigenous Australian Leader, Knowledge Holder Tommy George Passes On.

[AIATSIS-2] Y84 Kuku Thaypan at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)

[3] Jean-Christophe Verstraete, Diane Hafner, Land and Language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country (ISBN 902726760X, 2016)

[4] RMW Dixon (2002), Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, p xxxii

[5] Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)

[6] A "legend", Indigenous Australian Leader, Knowledge Holder Tommy George Passes On.

[:0-7] Rigsby, Bruce (1976). "Kuku-Thaypan descriptive and historical phonology". In Sutton, P. (ed.). Languages of Cape York. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. pp. 68–77.

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