Lardil language

Lardil
Leerdil
Pronunciation[leːɖɪl]
RegionBentinck Island, north west Mornington Island, Queensland
EthnicityLardil people
Native speakers
65 (2016 census)[1]
Dialects
Marlda kangka
Language codes
ISO 639-3lbz
Glottologlard1243
AIATSIS[2]G38
ELPLardil
Location of Wellesley Islands, the area traditionally associated with Lardil
Lardil is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Lardil, also spelled Leerdil or Leertil, is a moribund language spoken by the Lardil people on Mornington Island (Kunhanha), in the Wellesley Islands of Queensland in northern Australia.[3] Lardil is unusual among Aboriginal Australian languages in that it features a ceremonial register, called Damin (also Demiin). Damin is regarded by Lardil-speakers as a separate language and has the only phonological system outside Africa to use click consonants.[4]

  1. ^ "Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+)". Stat.data.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  2. ^ G38 Lardil at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ^ McKnight 1999, 3
  4. ^ McKnight 1999, 26