Ngadjunmaya language

Ngadjunmaya
Ngadjumaya
Native toAustralia
RegionGoldfields-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
EthnicityNgadjunmaia, ?Murunitja
Extinct"probably recently extinct" as of 2007[1]
"very few" (2008)[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nju
Glottologngad1258
AIATSIS[2]A3

Ngadjunmaya, correctly known as Ngadjumaya[citation needed], 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

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Vowels

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Three vowels with length are present:

Front Back
High i     u    
Low a    
  • /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

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Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p k c t ʈ
Nasal m ŋ ɲ n ɳ
Lateral 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

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  1. ^ Ngadjunmaya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b A3 Ngadjunmaya at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ^ von Brandenstein, C. G. (1980). Ngadjumaja: An Aboriginal Language of South-East Western Australia. Innsbruck: AMOE.