Iwaidjan languages

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Iwaidjan
Geographic
distribution:		 Cobourg Peninsula region, Northern Territory
Genetic
classification:		 Uncertain.
Subdivisions:
Wurrugu/Marrgu
Iwaidjic languages
Amurdak

The Iwaidjan or Yiwaidjan languages are a small family of non-Pama-Nyungan Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in the Cobourg Peninsula region of Western Arnhem Land.

Contents

[edit] The Iwaidjan languages

proto-Iwaidjan


Wurrugu


Marrgu



Iwaidjic

Warrkbi

Iwaidja



Garig


Ilgar






Manangkari


Maung





Amurdak


Garig and Ilgar are two almost identical dialects.[1] Manangkari may be a dialect of Maung.[2]

[edit] Status

Iwaidja is spoken by about 150 people in the community of Minjilang on Croker Island,[3] alongside English, Kunwinjku and Maung.[citation needed] Maung is primarily spoken in the community of Warruwi on Goulburn Island, and it too has about 150 speakers.[3] Both languages are still being learnt by children.[3]

All the other Iwaidjan languages are close to extinction. In 1998, Amurdak had three remaining speakers, Garig and Ilgar three speakers between them, Marrgu one speaker, and Wurrugu one rememberer.[3]

[edit] Phonology

The Iwaidjan languages have similar phoneme inventories. Exceptions are noted below the tables.

[edit] Vowels

Front Back
High i u
Low a

In addition to these, Maung also has /e/ and /o/, mostly in loanwords from Kunwinjku and Kunparlang.[4]

[edit] Consonants

Bilabial Apico-
Alveolar		 Apico-
Retroflex		 Lamino-
Alveolar		 Velar
Stop b d ɖ c k
Nasal m n ɳ ɲ ŋ
Approximant w ɻ j ɰ
Tap ɽ
Trill r
Lateral approximant l ɭ ʎ
Flapped lateral ɺ ɺ̡[5]

To these Marrgu adds a lamino-dental stop and nasal, /d̪ n̪/, while Maung lacks the two flapped laterals,[4] which are quite unusual among Australian languages. Also unusual is the velar approximant /ɰ/, which is an areal feature shared with Tiwi and Gunbarlang.[6]

[edit] Relationships with other languages

The vocabularies of all the Iwaidjan languages contain loanwords from Macassarese and Malay,[7] both Malayo-Polynesian languages from Indonesia. Iwaidja and Maung have also borrowed heavily from Kunwijku,[7] another Australian language of the Gunwingguan family.

While the Iwaidjan languages share a number of features with other non-Pama-Nyungan language families, it is uncertain which they are closest related to.[citation needed] Ross has proposed that they form part of an Arnhem Land family.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Evans (1998): pp. 115, 144.
  2. ^ Evans (1998): pp. 115–116.
  3. ^ a b c d Evans (1998): p. 115
  4. ^ a b Evans (1998): p. 118.
  5. ^ There is no standard IPA symbol for a retroflex lateral flap.
  6. ^ Evans (1998): p. 117.
  7. ^ a b Evans (1998): p. 116.

[edit] 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, 115–149.