| Also Known As: Yankuntatjara,Kulpantja,Jangkundjara,Yankunjtjatjarra
Description:
Yankunytjatjara (also Yankuntatjara, Jangkundjara, Kulpantja) is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Wati languages, belonging to the large South-West branch of the Pama-Nyungan family. It is one of the many varieties of the Western Desert Language, all of which are mutually intelligible.
Yankunytjatjara is one of the many dialects of the Western Desert language and is very similar to the better known and more widely spoken Pitjantjatjara. Young speakers of Yankunytjatjara often borrow words from English and also from Pitjantjatjara (which has expanded eastwards into Yankunytjatjara country and beyond), according to a study carried out mainly in Coober Pedy where many speakers of both varieties reside (although the town is on what was traditionally Arabana lands). Yankunytjatjara shows some variation across its range with, for example, Northern Yankunytjatjara sharing features with Southern Luritja.
The name used for Yankunytjatjara (and for Pitjantjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, and others) is relative, being based on a single prominent word which distinguishes it from its near neighbour Pitjantjatjara. The latter has pitjantja (in the present tense pitjanyi) for..... full article at Wikipedia |
