An Aboriginal language that only three years ago was considered 'virtually extinct' now has a recorded vocabulary of more than 1,000 words and its own translation of the classic children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 6 minutes 21 seconds 6 m The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Yuwi language Download 14.6 MB

The Yuwi language of the Yuibera and Yuwibara traditional owners in the Mackay region has no fluent living speakers, and was considered extinct by the State Library of Queensland in 2015.

But thanks to a massive revival effort, a small group of volunteers has collated 1,000 words of Yuwi vocabulary, enough to translate the story, which turns 50 on June 3.

Yuibera and Yuwibara children in Mackay can now hear the story in their ancestors' words and the volunteers plan to translate local Indigenous stories into children's books next.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by American author Eric Carle was first published 50 years ago today, and has been translated into at least 40 languages.

The United Nations has declared 2019 as the Year of Indigenous Languages.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, is 50 years old. ( ABC Tropical North: Sophie Meixner )

'Grief' at losing language

Yuibera traditional descendant Deb Netuschil was one of the volunteers who worked for four years to revive the language.

"Our language was near-extinct, and as a traditional woman here on country, there was a grief for that," she said.

"That's our culture, and that's what connects us to our land and to our people, so to have lost that culture through our language, it was like losing a part of you.

"You see other communities that were very fortunate to still have their old people present to pass a lot of that language down and it's something you quietly envied."

The volunteers plan to translate local traditional stories into children's books next. ( ABC Tropical North: Sophie Meixner )

The group worked with a linguist, the state library, and traditional families to verify pronunciation and spelling of the words, which were traditionally passed down orally.

"It was so meticulous because you had to go through all the records, and it was like looking through a haystack with a fine-tooth comb at times," Ms Netuschil said.

"It's about where you place your tongue, it's about how you get those sounds out, all of that we've had to relearn without having those old people to teach us.

"But there were words when you actually said them that actually felt and came naturally."

It was an arduous process to match English spelling and grammar with the Yuwi translation. ( ABC Tropical North: Sophie Meixner )

Now or never

Yuibera traditional custodian Phil Kemp said the group consulted historical records, anthropologist reports, and linguistic documents to collate the list of words.

"It's been a slow and steady journey, just trying to understand how to structure the language," he said.

"We've really started from scratch and we are just trying to … learn the pronunciations ourselves, then get to a stage where we can then pass on our knowledge to up-and-coming young people.

"It's been four years getting to this stage and then it's probably going to be at least another four years before we are actually confident and happy with the product.

Kids at the Mackay Children and Family Centre heard The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Yuwi. ( ABC Tropical North: Sophie Meixner )

Mr Kemp said the group felt a responsibility to preserve the language before it was lost to history.

"We realised that if we didn't do something now, then the language for the Mackay area would most likely be lost or tucked away, and may not ever be revived," he said.

"[We thought] if we don't do this now, then what chance have we got of the next generation coming along and being able to revive the language?"

The revival team plans to continue translating children's books as well as local Aboriginal stories.

"We will be able then to take them to the schools and preschool and kindies, especially starting with the younger ones because they'll soak up that information and learn those words a whole lot quicker," Mr Kemp said.

It took the team years to collate 1,000 words of Yuwi language. ( ABC Tropical North: Sophie Meixner )

100 endangered Indigenous languages

The Queensland State Library's Indigenous Languages project is working with local communities to revive more than 100 languages and dialects across Queensland.

The library's Indigenous languages coordinator Des Crump said most of Queensland's 100 Indigenous languages were considered endangered.

"There are only two or three really strong languages and so that means it's important that young people are brought in on that language learning part," he said.

"This is possibly the first time a popular story such as A Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into a Queensland Aboriginal language."