Uradhi language

Urradhi is a Paman language of the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, and is apparently extinct. It forms a group of closely related and highly mutually intelligible dialects, these being Urradhi on the coast to the south-west, spoken by the Urradhi people; Angkamuthi to the west north of Urradhi; Utudhanamu inland north from Atampaya, Yantaykenu further north, being the language of the Bamaga area; Yadhaykenu on the east coast north of Wudhadhi; and Yaraytyana further north again. (Adyinuri/Itinadyana may have been another.) The language has no common name, though 'Urradhi' is commonly used as a cover term. Speakers of the Angkamuthi, Atambaya and Yadhaykanuuse dialects use the term to refer to their language.

The Urradhi dialects are closely related to the Gudang language (Pantyinamu/Yatay/Gudang/Kartalaiga and other clan names), formerly spoken on the tip of Cape York.

The traditional language region includes north of Mapoon and Duyfken Point and east of the coast strip to the north of Port Musgrave (Angkamuthi country) incorporating the mouth of the Ducie River, the lower reaches of the Dulhunty River and the upper reaches of the Skardon River in the north. Following the displacement of Indigenous people by British settlement, it was also spoken in the Northern Peninsula Area Region including the communities of New Mapoon, Injinoo and Cowal Creek.

Dialects

Urradhi proper is the south-western dialect of the language. The name is composed of urra "this" and the proprietive dhi "having".

The south-eastern dialect of the Wuthathi people, also spelled Wudhadhi, is made of the same elements, with wudha being "this". It went extinct in the 1910s.

There are a few partial speakers of the inland dialect of Atampaya.

Phonology

Following the sound inventory of the Uradhi dialect. See Yinwum dialect for the inventory of that variety, which may be treated as a distinct language.

Vowels

Uradhi has seven phonemic vowels:

	Front	Back
	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	Template:IPAlink   Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink   Template:IPAlink
Mid	Template:IPAlink
Open	Template:IPAlink   Template:IPAlink

Consonants

Uradhi has 18 consonants:

	Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
	Bilabial	Velar	Palatal	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex
Plosive	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Nasal	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Fricative	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
Trill					Template:IPAlink
Approximant	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink