Mpakwithi (linguistics)

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Mpakwithi
Spoken in:	Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia
Total speakers:	?
Language family:	Pama-Nyungan Paman Northern Anguthimri Mpakwithi
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`aus`
ISO 639-3:	–
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Mpakwithi is a moribund Australian Aboriginal dialect of Queensland.

1 Classification
2 Phonology
- 2.1 Vowels
- 2.2 Consonants
3 References

[edit] Classification

Mpakwithi is generally regarded as a dialect of the Anguthimri language, which is part of the Northern Paman family.

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i iː ĩ y	u uː
Close-mid	e eː ẽ (ø)	o
Open-mid	æ æː æ̃
Low	a aː ã

/ø/ is found in only one word.

Mpakwithi has the most vowels of any Australian language, with 16–17. It also is the only Australian language to have nasal vowels.

[edit] Consonants

While other Anguthimri dialects and Northern Paman languages have three fricatives, /β ð ɣ/, Mpakwithi has a fourth, /ʒ/. Its origin is uncertain. This is an extremely rare sound in Australian languages.

[edit] References

Crowley, T. (1981). "The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri", in Dixon, R. M. W. and Blake, B. J.: Handbook of Australian Languages, Vol 2, Canberra and Amsterdam: Australian National University Press and John Benjamins, 146-194.
Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.