Wurrugu language
Appearance
Wurrugu | |
---|---|
Popham Bay language | |
Region | Northern Territory, Australia |
Extinct | Attested in the 19th century. |
Iwaidjan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | wur |
About the language and its speakers
Wurrugu is a language that belongs to the Iwaidjan family of languages.According to Ethnologue, Wurrugu which was once spoken in the Coburg peninsula of the Northern Territory is now extinct.
Phonology
Consonant inventory
Bilabial | Apico-alveolar | Apico-retroflex | Lamino-dental | Lamino-alveolar | Velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | b | d | ɖ | ƫ | k | |
Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ | |
Approximant | w | ɺ | y | Ɣ | ||
Tap | ɽ | |||||
Trill | r | |||||
Lateral | l | ɭ | (ly) | |||
Flapped lateral | Ǐ (ld) | ˘ɭ (rld) |
Notes on the consonant inventory
- Unlike Marrgu which belongs to the Iwaidjan family, Ilgar does not have any Lamino Dentals.
- The consonant inventory given above is the one provided by Evans(1998). It is important to note that certain phonetic symbols that Evans uses might conflict with the standard IPA symbols.
For example :
Description | Symbol used by Evans | IPA symbol |
---|---|---|
Apico-retroflex approximant | ɹ | ɻ |
Velar approximant | Ɣ | ɰ |
Lamino-alveolar approximant | y | ɹ |
Vowels
Evans(1998)briefly discusses vowels in his paper noting that Iwaidjan languages including Marrgu have a three vowel ( /a/, /i/, /u/) system typical of most Australian languages.
Further reading
Evans, N. (1996). First and last notes on Wurrugu. University of Melbourne Working Papers in Linguistics , 16, 91-98.
References
- ^ Evans, Nicholas (1998). "Iwaidja mutation and its origins". In Anna Siewierska & Jae Jung Song. Case, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 115–149.