Did you know Torres Strait Creole is vulnerable?

ALSO KNOWN AS		Torres Strait Pidgin, Lockhart Creole, Torres Strait Broken, West Torres, Cape York Creole, Yumplatok, Ap-Ne-Ap, Blaik, Creole
CLASSIFICATION		Pidgin or Creole, English based
ORTHOGRAPHY		Latin
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		tcs
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Modern Langus Ap-Ne-Ap
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (2)

Information from: “Community, identity, wellbeing: The report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey” . Doug Marmion and Kazuko Obata and Jakelin Troy (2014)

Vulnerable

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~6000
Native speakers worldwide
CHILDREN
5000
YOUNG ADULTS
7000
OLDER ADULTS
4000
ELDERS
3000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"A [respondent] for Yumplatok reported that it is used by all age groups and has thousands of full speakers in each age group. It also has part-speakers and people who are able to say several words and simple sentences."

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"Yumplatok speakers in all age groups use the language ‘often’."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Kalaw Kawaw Ya
Meriam Mir

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"Many Torres Strait Islander people are multilingual and the reported frequency of use, ‘often’ rather than ‘always’, suggests speakers switch between Yumplatok and other languages."

PLACES: Australia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Torres Strait Islands, Queensland

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
6,040
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
census

DATE OF INFO: 2006

Scripts (Writing system): Latin

PLACES: Australia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Torres Strait Islands, towns on upper Cape York, some towns on north Queensland east coast."

			17th		2013	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th Edition (2013)				Paul M. Lewis; Gary F. Simons; and Charles D. Fennig		Dallas, Texas: SIL International								http://www.ethnologue.com Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th Edition (2013)		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.), 2013. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.						6,040	2006	1000-9999	census												Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)								Australia	"Torres Strait Islands, towns on upper Cape York, some towns on north Queensland east coast."
978192210224					2014	Community, identity, wellbeing: The report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey									Canberra, Australia	Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)					Doug Marmion and Kazuko Obata and Jakelin Troy	Doug Marmion, Kazuko Obata and Jakelin Troy. 2014. "Community, Identity, Wellbeing: the Report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey." Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.		4000		7000		~6000		1000-9999	"A [respondent] for Yumplatok reported that it is used by all age groups and has thousands of full speakers in each age group. It also has part-speakers and people who are able to say several words and simple sentences."		3000			Kalaw Kawaw Ya, Meriam Mir				"Many Torres Strait Islander people are multilingual and the reported frequency of use, ‘often’ rather than ‘always’, suggests speakers switch between Yumplatok and other languages."			Vulnerable (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	10		"Yumplatok speakers in all age groups use the language ‘often’."		10			Australia	Torres Strait Islands, Queensland	-10.544521, 142.253666

Torres Strait Creole

Language metadata

Language information by source

Vulnerable

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~6000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

6,040

Discussion