Wardaman language
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Wardaman is an Australian Aboriginal language isolate. It is one of the northern non-Pama–Nyungan languages. Dagoman and Yangman were either dialects or closely related languages; as a family, these are called Yangmanic.
Classification
Though previously classified as Gunwinyguan, the Yangmanic languages have not been demonstrated to be related to other languages.[2]
The isolate Wagiman shares a very similar morphosyntactic profile with the Yangmanic languages, although they share very low cognacy rates (about 10% according to Stephen Wilson[3]). Francesca Merlan supports its grouping together with Yangmanic,[4] citing that both together differ from neighbouring languages (such as the Gunwinyguan language Jawoyn and Mangarrayi) while sharing very similar syntax with each other, such as their similar use of 'verbal particles'.
Phonology
The phonological inventory of Wardaman proper:
Consonants
The alveolo-palatals are pronounced with the blade of the tongue; at the end of a syllable they may sound like yn and yl to an English ear. Even the y is said to have lateral spread and to be pronounced with the blade and body of the tongue. There is very little acoustic difference between the two apical series compared to other languages in the area. The alveolars may add a slight retroflex onglide to a following vowel, and the retroflexes may assimilate alveolars in the same word. Nonetheless, they remain phonemically distinct. Francesca describes the w as bilabial, and notes that there is little or no lip rounding or protrusion (except in assimilation to a following /u/ or /o/). The r is post-alveolar.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Mid | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Low | Template:IPA link | |
Vocabulary
Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Wadaman (Wardaman):[5]
gloss Wadaman man Script error: No such module "Lang". woman Script error: No such module "Lang". head Script error: No such module "Lang". eye Script error: No such module "Lang". nose Script error: No such module "Lang". mouth Script error: No such module "Lang". tongue Script error: No such module "Lang". stomach Script error: No such module "Lang". bone Script error: No such module "Lang". blood Script error: No such module "Lang". kangaroo Script error: No such module "Lang". opossum Script error: No such module "Lang". emu Script error: No such module "Lang". crow Script error: No such module "Lang". fly Script error: No such module "Lang". sun Script error: No such module "Lang". moon Script error: No such module "Lang". fire Script error: No such module "Lang". smoke Script error: No such module "Lang". water Script error: No such module "Lang".
Notes
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Bowern, Claire. How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia? 2011.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Capell, Arthur. 1940. The Classification of Languages in North and North-West Australia. Oceania 10(3): 241-272, 404-433. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers".
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References
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- Merlan Francesca. 1983. A Grammar of Wardaman. A Language of the Northern Territory of Australia. Mouton de Gruyter. 1994.
Template:Australian Aboriginal languages Template:Language families