Flinders Island language

Flinders Island
Native toAustralia
RegionFlinders Island, Queensland
EthnicityAba Yalgayi
Extinctc. 2000
Language codes
ISO 639-3fln
Glottologflin1247
AIATSISY67
ELPFlinders Island

The Flinders Island language is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Flinders Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is unconfirmed as a distinct language. The inhabitants of the island were the Aba Yalgayi. There were 3 speakers reported in 1981.

One of the last known speakers of the language was Johnny Flinders.

A non-Indigenous linguist, Peter Sutton, has been reported to speak the Flinders Island language.

Names

The name Biyalgeyi have been used, but there is no evidence it refers to a language. Yalgawarra is a clan name.

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, 23 December 2011 (corrected 6 February 2012)
  2. 1 2 3 Y67 Flinders Island at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ↑ Tryon, Darrell (2007), "Australasia and the Pacific", in Moseley, Christopher; Asher, R. E. (eds.), Atlas of the world's languages (2nd ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 97–126, ISBN 978-0-415-31074-1, retrieved 27 December 2024
  4. ↑ Langton 2012, p. 179.
  5. ↑ Studies, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (15 October 2026). "Third National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS3)". aiatsis.gov.au. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Retrieved 15 October 2026.

Sources