Lamalama | |
---|---|
Mbarrumbathama, Mba Rumbathama | |
Native to | Australia |
Region | Queensland |
Ethnicity | Lamalama |
Native speakers | 3 (2016 census) [1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | lby |
Glottolog | lamu1254 |
AIATSIS [2] | Y136 |
ELP | Lamalama |
The Lamalama language, also known by the clan name Mbarrumbathama (Austlang) or Mba Rumbathama, formerly known as Lamu-Lamu or Lama-Lama, is a Paman language of Queensland, Australia. Lamalama is one of four languages once spoken by the Lamalama people, the others being Morrobolam (Umbuygamu), Mbariman-Gudinhma, and Umpithamu. [3]
In January 2019, the ISO database changed its reference name to Lamalama, from Lamu-Lamu. [4] As of August 2020 [update] , Glottolog calls it Lamalama, [5] while AIATSIS' Austlang database thesaurus heading is Mbarrumbathama language. [6]
Austlang says, quoting linguist Jean-Cristophe Verstraete (2018), that Lamalama, Rimanggudinhma (Mbariman-Gudhinma) and Morrobolam form a genetic subgroup of Paman known as Lamalamic, "defined by shared innovations in phonology and morphology". Within this subgroup, "Morrobolam and Lamalama form a phonologically innovative branch, while Rumanggudinhma forms a more conservative branch". [7]
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | voiceless | p | t̪ | t | c | k | ʔ |
voiced | b | d̪ | d | ɟ | |||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿ̪d̪ | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | ᵑɡ | ||
Nasal | m | n̪ | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Fricative | ɸ | θ | r̝ | ɕ | h | ||
Lateral | l | ||||||
Rhotic | r | ||||||
Approximant | w | ɹ | j |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Open | a |
Phoneme | Allophone | Notes |
---|---|---|
/i/ | [ ɪ ] | in unstressed syllables |
[ ɨ ] | in stressed syllables | |
[ ʉ ], [ ɵ ] | when following labial consonants | |
/a/ | [ ɐ ] | in free variation with [a] |
[ ə ] | in unstressed syllables | |
[ æ ] | when in the context of palatal sounds | |
[ ɛ ] | realized within the diphthong /ia/ | |
[ ɔ ] | realized within the diphthong /ua/ | |
/u/ | [ ʊ ] | in unstressed positions |
Lamalama's vowels do not show contrastive length. [17] There are two diphthongs, /ia/ and /ua/. [18] /ia/ can raise to [iɛ], and /ua/ can raise to [uɔ]. [19]