Gudang language
Gudang or Djagaraga is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is the traditional language of the Gudang people, and is the northernmost language of the Cape York Peninsula. It is closely related to Urradhi, its neighbour to the south, and distantly related to its neighbour to the north, the Western-Central Torres Strait Language, from which it borrowed quite a few vocabulary items.
Phonology
Going by the records of the language recorded in MacGillivray and Brierly, as well as comparing these with their Urradhi and WCL counterparts, the phonology of the language appeared to have been as follows:vowels : i, ii ; e, ee ; a, aa ; u, uu
The high vowels i, ii and u, uu had mid variants, thus and. Some Western-Central Torres Strait Language loans probably retained the WCL vowels unchanged. The vowels e/ ee otherwise appear to have had a similar marginal status as in Urradhi.
Consonants
Orthographical differences to the IPA transcription is indicated in brackets.The non-sonorant sounds appear to have had voice contrasts, except after nasals, when both voiced and voiceless allophones occurred, with the voiced allophones seemingly more common. While the lamino-dental and alveolar contrast was not marked by the European recorders, the Urradhi and WCL cognates strongly suggest that it existed.
Differences between Gudang and Urradhi
The main differences in phonology between Gudang and the Urradhi dialects appears to be:- Voiced stops existed where Urradhi has voiced fricatives, in part because of WCL loans, thus Urradhi , , and ) correspond to Gudang b, dh and g. Note that in ipadha 'father', Gudang p corresponds to Urradhi , both representing Proto-Paman *piipa, proto Gudang-Urradhi *piipata.
- Gudang had reflexive rt from Proto Paman *r and *rr
- :Proto-Paman *warapa 'water, stream', Urradhi atava, Gudang artaba
- :Proto-Paman *mara 'hand', Urradhi mata, Gudang arta
- :Proto-Paman *yurru 'elbow', Urradhi yutu, Gudang yurtu
- :Proto-Paman *murunya 'shin', Urradhi mutuny, Gudang urtunya
- A slightly higher rate of initial dropping was evident in Gudang.
- Gudang retained final CV syllables where Urradhi has reduced these to C.
- Gudang had word final -rra where Urradhi has -l, and stronger retention of rr and l in the clusters rrk and lk.
- Gudang had virtually no trace of the utterance final suppletion very evident in Urradhi, the one exception being anhadhing. However, initial and final vowel elision appeared to have been the norm.
- There was a strong tendency in Gudang for u to become i before following palatals .
| Cognates | Possible Cognates | Non-Cognate | WCL Loans | Possible WCL Loans | Total | |
| Gudang | 76 | 11 | 157 | 41 | 4 | 200 |
| Yadhaykenu | 76 | 10 | 93 | 11 | 2 | 182 |
| Atampaya | 58 | 11 | 116 | 7 | 2 | 191 |
| Angkamuthi | 53 | 11 | 157 | 9 | 2 | 178 |
| Cognates | Possible Cognates | Non-Cognate | WCL Loans | Possible WCL Loans | |
| Gudang | 38% | 5.5% | 78.5% | 20.5% | 2.1% |
| Yadhaykenu | 42.5% | 5.9% | 51% | 3.8% | 1% |
| Atampaya | 31.4% | 5.9% | 61% | 3.7% | 1% |
| Angkamuthi | 33.8% | 7% | 88% | 5% | 1% |
These figures show that Gudang was a separate language from the Urradhi group.
Gudang and the Western-Central Language of Torres Strait (Kalau Lagau Ya)
Gudang shares about 20% of its words with Kalau Lagau Ya due to loaning between the languages. It is obvious from MacGillivray, Brierly and Ray that there was extensive intermarriage and contacts between the Gudang and the Islanders, particularly but not exclusively with the people of the Muralag group. The data Brierly and others collected from Barbara Thompson and local people show that where marriage, clan membership and other cultural aspects were concerned, that the Gudang fitted as much into the Islanders' world as in the neighbouring Urradhi world. Also, it appeared that the Gudang were on the whole bilingual in WCL, and this perhaps reflects the fact that so many WCL words were recorded as being Gudang by MacGillivray. We will probably never know how many such recorded words were mistakes on his part, by him or his informants misunderstanding which language was being asked for.Loans or Possible Loans from the Western-Central Language of Torres Strait (Kala Lagaw Ya)
The following words vary from clear to possible loans from WCL into Gudang and Urradhi. This is shown by the phonology of the words. Most are fairly recent, however, some, such as sara 'tern', are older in that the Urradhi dialects have undergone sound changes similar to those undergone by Paman word stock. Possible loans are marked.WCL aap garden : G ampa ground, soil, cf Y ampimana clearing
WCL aga axe : G aga, Y agha
WCL apa- lower, below, down, underneath : G apa lower back
WCL baag jaw : G baaga cheek
WCL bœbath grandparent : G bubaatha grandfather
WCL buru dust, chips, crumbs : G burruburru ash
WCL daan eye : G daanha
WCL dhumowak, dhœmuwak cloth, clothes : G dhumook
WCL dhuyum thunder : Y unhthuymu, At unhthumu, A unhthuymu thunder.
WCL dœnasam eyelash : G caamudaanha
WCL gii knife : G giiri, Y ghiri, At kiri, A kiri
WCL iibu chin : G iibu
WCL kab paddle : G karaaba
WCL kat frog, underjaw part of jaw; neck , Bœigu sub-dialect kœteko, kœteku frog : G kartakarta green frog, Y akarrakarra
WCL katham banana : G katamarra, Y katamarra, A katamarra
WCL kausar inland pandanus, bœruwa young kausar : G burwa, kwacherra pandanus
WCL kayadh grandmother : G kayadha grandmother
WCL kùn stern : G koona or kuuna
WCL kùpai, kùpa, OKY kùpar birth cord, maithakùpai, ; cf. kùp bottom, base : G kupara
WCL mabar small mangrove conch with spikes : G mabarr, At mavarra k.o. shell
WCL makas mouse, rat; wœsar kangaroo, wallaby : G maakacha, Y wacharra, At acharra, acharraki, A wacharra mouse
WCL met dugong flipper, arm : G merta fin
WCL mœrap, mœraapi bamboo : G marraapi, Y marrapi, At marrapi, A marrapi
WCL mùdh shelter, hut, back-yard, haven, place/spot protected from the wind : G mudha
WCL muugu ant/termite hill/nest , white ant, termite : G muungku, Y mungka, At mungka, A mungka anthill
WCL ngaga bird/stingray wing : G ngaaga wing
WCL paad hill, tip, top, height : G pada hill, paada head
WCL patha- cut, chop : A ipaata cut, chop
WCL puuy, puuri magic charm/gear/medecine : G upiirri medecine, Y upirri, At upirri, A upirri sore, painful; witchcraft
WCL puuy, OKY puuri tree, plant, post, pole, log : G puri tree
WCL saan dugong tail : G canha fish tail
WCL sara tern : G carra tern, Y charra, At iyarra seagull
WCL sayima outrigger : G carima
WCL sœguba tobacco : G cuuka, cooka, Y/At/A
WCL sœka lungs : G caaka lungs
WCL tete animal/bird leg, cf. MM teter lower leg, upper foot : G tetarr finger/toe nail
WCl thawal coast, shore, shoreline : G thawarr seaweed
WCL thœyap wrist, OKY thœrapu : G theraapi wrist, forearm
WCL thuugu outrigger pole : G thuugu
WCL uru / wœru rope, sisaluru type of rope : G cicalurru
WCL urui creature, bird : G wurruy creature
WCL uur / wur / wœr water : G uurru boil
WCL waapi fish : G waapi
WCL waaru turtle, green turtle : G waarru, Y iwurru, A waru
WCL wagel after, behind : G wagel thunder
WCL wapadha cotton tree : G waapadha, Y wapadha, At wapara, A wapadha
WCL walap hat : G walaapa, At walapan, A walapan
WCL warup hour-glass-shaped drum : G warrupa, Y arupa, At arupa, A arupa drum
WCL wœnawa shell turtle : G wanawa, At wanawa turtle shell
WCL wœrab, wurab, urab coconut ; G warraaba, At warrava
WCL yatha, yetha beard : G yetha
WCL yathai, yatha, yathar spider shell : Y yathal, A yathaa nail, spider shell
WCL yœuth long house, hall, church : Y yutha, A yutha hut, house, church''