Kuuku Ya’u is one variety within a language which does not have a general name. Classically, there were at least six named and mutually-understandable dialects within this language. These were: Kuuku Ya’u, Umpila, Kuuku Yani, Uutaalnganu, Kaanju and Kuuku Iyu (Thompson 1976, Thompson 1988). All of these dialects are associated with country on the north-east coast of CYP, from around Massey Creek (north of Princess Charlotte Bay) to around Olive River (Shelburne Bay). Kuuku Ya’u country covers around 90 kilometers of coastline stretching from the Pascoe River to the Olive River (Chase 1980, Thompson 1988). Genetically, Kuuku Ya’u and other varieties in this group are classified as belonging to the Middle Paman subgroup of Paman languages (Hale 1976, Verstraete and Rigsby 2015:192-194). The language has not been spoken regularly day-to-day for some decades, with a small number of elderly speakers remaining and a few dozen semi-speakers spread across the dialects of Umpila, Kuuku Ya’u and Kaanju.

Kuuku Ya’u and the other dialects in this language are very closely related. They are mutually intelligible with no known grammatical differences and a high level of shared words. Thompson, in a comparative analysis, noted 87% of vocabulary in common between Umpila and Kuuku Ya’u (Thompson 1988:4). There are a number of emblematic vocabulary differences, such as, dialect variation in verb forms for ‘look’ and ‘eat’, which speakers appeal to in distinguishing the dialects. The Kuuku Ya’u word for ‘look’ is kuuchanya and the dialect and the people affiliated with the dialect can be referred to by a nominalised form of this verb, e.g kuuchanyu ‘the dialect where you say kuuchanya for ‘look’ or ‘the people that speak kuuchanya for ‘look’.

Hale, Kenneth L. 1976. Phonological developments in particular Northern Paman languages. In Peter Sutton (ed.), Languages of Cape York, 7–40. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.

Thompson, David. 1988. Lockhart River ‘Sand Beach’ Language: An Outline of Kuuku Ya’u and Umpila. Darwin: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Thompson, David. 1976. Distribution of dialects along the East Coast and hinterland of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. In Peter Sutton, Languages of Cape York, 232–235. Canberra: Australian Institute of Australian Studies.

Verstraete, Jean-Christophe and Bruce Rigsby. 2015. A Grammar and Lexicon of Yintyingka. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.