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Thura-Yura languages

Australian Language Families

The Thura-Yura or Yura languages are a family of Pama-Nyungan languages historically spoken by Aboriginal peoples around Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent in South Australia. The family comprises nine documented languages: Wirangu, Nauo, Adnyamathanha, Kuyani, Barngarla, Narangga, Kaurna, Nukunu and Ngadjuri, most of which are now extinct or critically endangered, though Kaurna in particular has been the subject of active revival efforts around Adelaide. Internally the family divides into a western Nangga branch and a northern-and-southern Core Thura-Yura branch, and reconstruction work by linguists including Jane Simpson and Luise Hercus has recovered a substantial body of proto-language vocabulary covering food, kinship, body parts and the local environment.

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