Pitta Pitta language

Pitta Pitta
Region	Queensland
Extinct	2 cited in 1979
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Karnic Palku Pitta Pitta
Dialects	Pitta-Pitta Ringu-Ringu Rakaya Ngulupulu/Karanja Kunkalanja Mayawarli (Maiawali)
Signed forms	Pitha Pitha Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pit – inclusive code Individual code: yxa – Mayawali (Maiawali)
Glottolog	pitt1247  (Pitta Pitta)
AIATSIS	G6 Pitta Pitta (other dialects listed from here)

Pitta Pitta (also known under several other spellings) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language. It was spoken around Boulia, Queensland.

Pituri

The name pituri for the leaves chewed as a stimulant by traditional Aboriginal people is thought to derive from the Pitta Pitta word pijiri.

Status

In 1979, Barry J. Blake reported that Pitta Pitta was "virtually extinct", with only two speakers remaining – Ivy Nardoo of Boulia, and Linda Craigie of Mount Isa. It is now considered unlikely that any speakers remain.

Sign language

The Pitta Pitta had well-developed a signed form of their language.

References

• Roth, Walter E. (1897). The expression of ideas by manual signs: a sign-language. (p. 273–301) Reprinted from Roth, W.E. Ethnological studies among the North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines. London, Queensland Agent-Generals Information Office, 1897; 71–90; Information collected from the following tribes; Pitta-Pitta, Boinji, Ulaolinya, Wonkajera, Walookera, Undekerebina, Kalkadoon, Mitakoodi, Woonamurra, Goa. Reprinted (1978) in Aboriginal sign languages of the Americas and Australia. New York: Plenum Press, vol. 2.

External links

• Bibliography of Pitta Pitta people and language resources, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies