Yawuru language
| Yawuru | |
|---|---|
| Region | Australia |
| Ethnicity | Yawuru, Jukun |
Native speakers | 152 (2021 census)[1] |
Nyulnyulan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ywr |
| Glottolog | yawu1244 |
| AIATSIS[2] | K1 |
| ELP | Yawuru |
 Map of the traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Derby, Western Australia. Yawuru is the dark blue.[3] | |
Yawuru is a Western Nyulnyulan language spoken on the coast south of Broome in Western Australia.
Grammatically it resembles other Nyulnyulan languages. It has a relatively free word order.[4]
By the late 1990s the number of fluent speakers of Yawuru had dropped to a handful but a few younger people dedicated themselves to learning the language and they are now teaching it in schools and in adult classes, in Broome.[5]
Phonology[edit]
The vowel phonemes are short vowels /ɪ/, /a/, and /u/, and long vowels /iː/, /aː/, and /ʊː/ (spelled ii, aa, uu).
Consonantal segments include:[6]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | palatalized | ||||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | t̠ʲ | ʈ | k/q | |
| voiced | b | d | d̠ʲ | ɖ | g | ||
| Nasal | m | n | n̠ʲ | ɳ | ŋ | ||
| Approximant | lateral | l | l̠ʲ | ɭ | |||
| plain | ɻ | j | w | ||||
| Flap | ɾ | ɾʲ | |||||
Speakers also use glottal stops, implosives, and ejectives.
Syllable structure in the initial position is #CV(:) (C(C)), in the medial position is CV(:)(C), and in the final position is CV(C(C))#. # representing the word boundary, C standing for consonant, V for vowel, and V: for long vowel. The most common syllables are CV or CVC (CV: or CV:C).
Orthography[edit]
Vowels[edit]
- a - [a]
- i - [i]
- u - [u]
- aa - [aː]
- ii - [iː]
- uu - [uː]
Consonants[edit]
- b - [b]
- d - [d]
- dy - [dʲ]
- g - [g]
- j - [d͡ʑ]
- k - [k]
- l - [l]
- ly - [lʲ]
- m - [m]
- n - [n]
- ny - [nʲ]
- ng - [ŋ]
- p - [p]
- r - [ɾ]
- rd - [ɖ]
- rl - [ɭ]
- rn - [ɲ]
- rr - [ɻ]
- rry - [rʲ]
- t - [t]
- ty - [tʲ]
- w - [w]
- y - [j]
- ' - [ʔ][7]
Grammar[edit]
There is no noun class in Yawuru. Adverbs belong to the same class as nominals. There is a verb class. Nouns and adjectives are distinguished through semantic context.
Morphology[edit]
Nominals inflect for case and adverbs, belonging to this class, take case markers. Case markers are signified by enclitics. Nominals do not have a declension class. Verbs inflect to denote person, number, tense, mood, and aspect. Prefixes, suffixes, and enclitics are used to conjugate verbs.
There are four person categories in Yawuru: first person, second person, third person, and fourth person, which is made up by a first person inclusive (includes the speaker and the hearer).
Syntax[edit]
Word order is flexible, with the verb often preceding the subject.
Vocabulary[edit]
Yawuru has a large borrowing from neighbouring Pama-Nyungan languages. The vocabulary is specifically strong in terms of environment, reflecting on the culture.[citation needed]
References[edit]
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ K1 Yawuru at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ This map is indicative only.
- ^ Yawuru Ngan-ga, a Phrasebook of the Yawuru Language, Magabala, 1995.
- ^ "Yawuru Language". Nyamba Buru Yawuru. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
- ^ Hosokawa, K (1991). "The Yawuru Language of West Kimberly: a meaning based description". Australian National University.
- ^ "Yawuru language and alphabet". Omniglot. Retrieved 23 July 2021.