Matngele language
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| Matngele | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Northern Territory, Australia | |
| Total speakers: | 15–20 in 1983 | |
| Language family: | Daly Malagmalag Daly Proper Matngele |
|
| Writing system: | Latin alphabet | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | aus | |
| ISO 639-3: | zml | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Matngele or Madngele is a moribund Australian Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory.
Contents |
[edit] Classification
Matngele is commonly placed in the Daly family of non-Pama-Nyungan languages. R. M. W. Dixon (2002) believes it to be related to Kamu, but regards further relationships as unproven.
[edit] Phonology
[edit] Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ɵ | |
| Low | a |
[edit] Consonants
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | ||
| Stop | Voiceless | p | k | c | t | |
| Voiced | b | ɡ | ɟ | d | ||
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n | ||
| Lateral | ʎ | l | ||||
| Rhotic | r | ɻ | ||||
| Semivowel | w | j | ||||
[edit] Grammar
Matngele has only five simple verbs. These must be combined with coverbs in order to form complex verbs.
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[edit] References
- Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Zandvoort, F. B. (1999). A grammar of Matngele, BA honours sub-thesis, Armidale: University of New England.
