Kala Lagaw Ya

Kala Lagaw Ya is a Pama-Nyungan language spoken by about 4,000 people on the Torres Strait Islands between Papua New Guinea and the mainland of Australian. It has been influenced by Papuan languages such as Meriam Mir, and is one of the only Aboriginal languages with the sound /s/.

Kala Lagaw Ya pronunciation

Information compiled by Jack Gill

Sample text in Kala Lagaw Ya

Kulay daparaginga, nubi arkathagina, mura zaginga, kasa Awgadh meparuy. Awgadhan kulay dapar aymoedhin wagel nabi arkath, nabi arkath kulay kawaginga, a boeradharaginga, kasa malu. Senabi malu koey gubalnga na koey inuralnga. Wa Awgadhaw maygi mari nanga mulaydhin gimia, nuydh wayadhin nungu woenab nanga, Awgadh kedha mulaydhin, "Buya nagi". Kalanu buya mekath asidhin. Awgadhan imadin matha ngoedhagidh, kalanu dhadhia madhin, buya inurngu. Nuydh buya nel tharan goeyga, inur nel tharan kubil. Kubil nanga muasin nanga goeyga mangiz sena urapun goeyga.

Translation

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The spirit of God was hovering over the water. Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light "day", and the darkness he named "night". There was evening, then morning, the first day.

Source: http://www.language-museum.com/k/kala-lagaw-ya.htm

Links

Information about the Kala Lagaw Ya language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_Lagaw_Ya_language
http://www.flw.com/languages/kala.htm

Other Australian Aboriginal languages

Arrernte, Gooniyandi, Gugadja, Kala Lagaw Ya, Murrinh-Patha, Ngiyambaa, Noongar, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Yindjibarndi, Yolngu

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet