Kuuk Thaayorre
Kuuk Thaayorre—literally, the Thaayorre people's language—is a Paman language spoken in Pormpuraaw on the western side of the Cape York Peninsula. With the majority of the Thaayorre using the language in daily interactions and it is still being acquired by children, it is in a robust position compared to many other Australian languages.
Closely related to Ogh-Undjan and more distantly related to the Uw languages, Uw Olkola, Kuuk Thaayorre formerly had several dialects—the AIATSIS AustLang Project page notes affiliations with Kuuk Thaayunth Y215, Kuuk Thayem Y212, and Kuuk Thanon, with Kuuk Yak as another possible dialect—but the language has become more uniform as the number of speakers has declined.
Kuuk Thaayorre's distinctive system, inscribed in its grammar with the cardinal points as a spatial absolute and time seen as flowing from east to west, has attracted significant interest from linguistic psychologists — if the speaker faces south, time flows from left to right, looking north, it flows from right to left; facing east, time flows towards you; facing west, it moves away from you.
A lengthy list of synonyms and alternatives includes Kuuk Thaayoore, Kuktayor, Kukudayore, Gugudayor, Koko Daiyuri, Koko Taiyor, Kokkotaijari, Kokotaiyari, Thayorre, Thaayore, Thayore, Tayore, Taior, Taiol, Da:jor, and Behran.
Kuuk Thaayorre is the name applied by the Thaayorre people to their own language. The name is constructed with 'kuuk' (meaning 'language') although the meaning of Thaayorre is uncertain . It is affiliated with Kuuk Thaayunth Y215; Kuuk Thayem Y212; and Kuuk Thanon (Gaby 2006:2-3).
Sources:
AIATSIS AustLang Project: Kuuk Thaayorre (Y69)
Lera Boroditsky, How does our language shape the way we think?
Alice Gaby, The Thaayorre think of Time Like They Talk of Space
Alice R. Gaby, Reflexive constructions in Kuuk Thaayorre, in Katarzyna Janic, Nicoletta Puddu, Martin Haspelmath (eds) Reflexive constructions in the world’s languages, Berlin, Language Science Press 2023
Hannah Johnson, Kuuk Thaayorre: An Endangered Language with the Right Direction
State Library of Queensland: Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map: Kuuk Thaayorre
Wikipedia: Kuuk Thaayorre language
Wikipedia: Thaayorre
