Malak-Malak language
| Malak-Malak | |
|---|---|
| Yunggor | |
| Region | Northern Territory |
|
Native speakers
|
33 Malak-Malak (2006 census)[1] 5 Tyeraity (2005)[1] |
|
Northern Daly (language isolate)
|
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: mpb – Malak-Malak woa – Tyaraity |
| Glottolog | nort1547[2] |
| AIATSIS[1] | N22 Malak Malak, N10 Kuwema (Tyaraity) |
Malak-Malak (also spelt Mullukmulluk, Malagmalag) or Ngolokwangga (Ngolak-Wonga, Ngolok-Wanggar, Nguluwongga) is an Australian Aboriginal language. The Tyaraity (Tyeraty, Kuwema) variety is distinct. Malak-Malak is nearly extinct, with children growing up speaking Kriol instead.
Classification[edit]
Malak-Malak has sometimes been classified in a Northern Daly family along with an "Anson Bay" group of Wagaydy (Patjtjamalh, Wadjiginy, Kandjerramalh) and the unattested Giyug. Green concluded that Wagaydy and Malak-Malak were two separate families.[3] Later researchers have linked them, and this is reflected in Bowern (2011).[4] However, the Wagaydy people are recent arrivals in the area, and their language may only similar due to borrowing.[5] AIATSIS and Glottolog treats Wagaydy as an isolate and Giyug as unclassifiable.
Phonology[edit]
Vowels[edit]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ʊ |
| Close-mid | e | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | |
| Open | a | |
Consonants[edit]
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
| Stop | p | k | c | t | |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n | |
| Lateral | ʎ | l | |||
| Rhotic | r | ɻ | |||
| Semivowel | w | j | |||
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Malak Malak at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
- ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Northern Daly". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ^ Green, I. "The Genetic Status of Murrinh-patha" in Evans, N., ed. "The Non-Pama-Nyungan Languages of Northern Australia: comparative studies of the continent’s most linguistically complex region". Studies in Language Change, 552. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 2003.
- ^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
- ^ Patjtjamalh at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- Birk, D. B. W. (1976). The MalakMalak language, Daly River (Western Arnhem Land). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
- Ray, Sidney H. (Jan–Jun 1909). "The Ngolok-Wanggar Language, Daly River, North Australia". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute) 39: 137–141. doi:10.2307/2843287. JSTOR 2843287.
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