#gathang

What is the language called in English and the language itself? The language is called Gathang (also spelt Kattang or Gadjang) or Worimi (also spelt Warrimay) 

Where is the language spoken? Gathang is from the mid-north coast of New South Wales, Australia.

How many people speak the language? According to this article, the last fluent speaker of Gathang died in the 1960s. Members of the three indigenous groups who spoke Gathang, the Birrbay, Warrimay and Guringay people, are working to revitalise the language.

Which language family does it belong to? What are some of its relative languages? Gathang is a Pama-Nyungan language, in the Yuin-Kuric language group.

What writing system does the language use? Gathang is written in the Latin alphabet.

To celebrate International Year of Indigenous Languages, the Royal Australian Mint launched the new coins.

Money, or an object which abstractly represented the value of goods and services, did not exist in Australia before European colonisation. Trade occurred, but it was between items deemed to be of similar worth, for example, pearl shell, quartz, food or songs. With the entry of money into the Indigenous economy, new words were needed to refer to coins and later, notes.

Most Indigenous words for money come from words for “stone”, “rock” or “pebble”, no doubt in reference to the size and shape of coins. On the new 50 cent coin, you’ll find words for “stone” from across Australia: