Ngadjunmaya language
| Ngadjunmaya | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Goldfields-Esperance; Eyre’s Sand Patch, Goddard Creek to Port Malcolm, to Fraser Range, to Naretha and Point Culver, at Mount Andres, Russell Range, Balladonia, and Norseman |
| Ethnicity | Ngadjunmaia, ?Murunitja |
Native speakers | "very few speakers" (2008);[1] "probably recently extinct" (2007)[2] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nju |
| Glottolog | ngad1258 |
| AIATSIS[1] | A3 |
Ngadjunmaya correctly known as Ngadjumaya is a Pama–Nyungan language of Western Australia that is located in the Goldfields-Esperance region.
Murunitja was apparently a dialect of either Ngadjumaya or of Mirning.
Phonology
Vowels
Three vowels with length are present:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Low | a aː |
- /i/ can also be heard as [e] before a velar /k/, and as [ɛ ~ æ] before palatal sounds /ʎ, j/.
- /a/ can also be heard as [ɔ] when following sounds /w, j/, and as [o] when following /k/.
- /u/ can also be heard as fronted [ʏ] when preceding /j/.
Consonants
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Velar | Dental | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
| Stop | p | k | t̪ | c | t | ʈ |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | n̪ | ɲ | n | ɳ |
| Lateral | l̪ | ʎ | l | ɭ | ||
| Rhotic | r | ɽ | ||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
- /ɽ/ can be heard as either a tap [ɽ] or a glide [ɻ].
- /r/ can be heard as either a trill [r] or a tap [ɾ].
- /k/ can also have a voiced allophone of [ɣ] when in word-medial positions.[3]
References
- ^ a b A3 Ngadjunmaya at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Ngadjunmaya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ von Brandenstein, C. G. (1980). Ngadjumaja: An Aboriginal Language of South-East Western Australia. Innsbruck: AMOE.
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