English
Alternative spellings
Muk Thang
Etymology
Literally �good mouth�.
Proper noun
en-proper noun
- The now-extinct dialect of the Kurnai tribe of south-east Victoria, Australia.
- The now-extinct language encompassing the dialect of the Kurnai, as well as nearby dialects with which it was mutually intelligible.
Synonyms
Kurnai
Quotations
1907, w:R. H. Mathews|R. H. Mathews, Language of the Birdhawal tribe, in Gippsland, Victoria
:The Birdhawal call their own dialect mÅk-dhang, but they distinguish the dialect of the Kurnai as gÅ«nggala-dhang. The termination dhang in both instances means â��mouth,â�� and is symbolical of speech. It may also be mentioned that the Kurnai call their own local dialect mÅk-dhang, and that of the Birdhawal kwai-dhang. MÅk means good or great, and kwai signifies rough; I forget the meaning of gÅ«nggala.
1998, Sue Butler, Lonely Planet Australian Phrasebook: Language Survival Kit
:Other important languages of Victoria include Wathawurrung, spoken near Geelong, Wembe-Wemba of the Mallee region, Bunganditj from the south-west corner of Victoria, and Muk Thang, the language of the Ganai (also spelled Kurnai) of Gippsland.
2002, w:R. M. W. Dixon|R. M. W. Dixon, Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development
:I have in most cases avoided names which appear to have been invented by White observers but had no validity for Aborigines in traditional times. For example, �Kurnay� or �Gaanay� (from the lexeme �man�) for the Gippsland language; I have preferred to label the language �Muk-thang�, the name of one of its dialects.
External links
Ethnologue report on the Pama-Nyungan languages
Category:Extinct languages
Category:Languages
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