Pitta Pitta language

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Pitta Pitta is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language once spoken around Boulia in Queensland. It belongs to the Pama–Nyungan language family, within the Karnic group. The language had several dialects, including Pitta-Pitta, Ringu-Ringu, Rakaya, Ngulupulu/Karanja, Kunkalanja, and Mayawarli (Maiawali).

By 1979, only three speakers were known to remain (Ivy Nardoo, Ted Marshall, and Linda Craigie), and today it is believed there are no living speakers. Pitta Pitta also had a signed form of the language. The word pituri, used for the stimulant leaves, is sometimes linked to Pitta Pitta (pijiri), though Walter Roth noted that pituri was the term used by neighboring Yurlayurlanya, while the Pitta Pitta referred to the plant as tarembola. The language has several names and spellings and is recorded with linguistic codes such as ISO pit (with Mayawali/Maiawali as yxa), Glottolog pitt1247, and AIATSIS G6.