Gudang language

Australian Aboriginal language

Gudang or Djagaraga (Pantyinamu/Yatay/Gudang/Kartalaiga and other clans) is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is the traditional language of the Gudang people, and is the northernmost language of the Cape York Peninsula. It is closely related to Urradhi (dialects Urradhi, Angkamuthi, Yadhaykenu, Wudhadhi, etc. ), its neighbour to the south, and distantly related to its neighbour to the north, the Western Central Torres Strait Language (Kalaw Lagaw Ya), from which it borrowed quite a few vocabulary items.

Gudang shares about 20% of its words with Kalau Lagau Ya (termed WCL = Western Central Language here in) due to loaning between the languages. It is obvious from MacGillivray, Brierly and Ray that there was extensive intermarriage and contacts between the Gudang and the Islanders, particularly but not exclusively with the people of the Muralag group (commonly called the Kowrareg people). The data Brierly and others collected from Barbara Thompson and local people show that where marriage, clan membership and other cultural aspects were concerned, that the Gudang fitted as much into the Islanders' world as in the neighbouring Urradhi world. Also, it appeared that the Gudang were on the whole bilingual in WCL, and this perhaps reflects the fact that so many WCL words were recorded as being Gudang by MacGillivray. We will probably never know how many such recorded words were mistakes on his part, by him or his informants misunderstanding which language was being asked for.