Kalkatungic is a small branch of the Pama-Nyungan language family of Australia, containing two now-extinct languages, Kalkatungu and Yalarnnga, historically spoken in the Gulf Country region of northwestern Queensland. The two languages are not especially close to one another linguistically, and some classifiers, including R.M.W. Dixon, have treated them as separate primary families rather than as a single branch, reflecting the deep and uncertain time depth of their shared ancestry. Documentation of the family has been complicated by historical confusion in early word lists, including a case in which vocabulary actually belonging to Kalkatungu was mistakenly attributed to a separate, apparently spurious language called Wakabunga.
Facts
Proto-Language StatusKalkatungic groups two languages, Kalkatungu and Yalarnnga, that are not closely related to each other; R. M. W. Dixon treats them as separate families rather than as descendants of one common proto-language, so the two-language grouping is classificatory/areal rather than resting on an agreed common ancestor. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Kalkatungic Languages
Wikimedia FoundationLead section (classification)Quote, Lead section (classification)
The two languages are not close; Dixon treats them as separate families.
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