Marrgu language

Last updated
Marrgu
Yaako
Native to Australia
Region Croker Island, Northern Territory
Ethnicity Yaako
Extinct 2003 [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mhg
Glottolog marg1251
AIATSIS [2] N45
ELP Marrgu
Marrgu language.png
Marrgu language (purple arrow), among other non-Pama–Nyungan languages (grey)
Marrgu language (closeup).png
Closeup

Marrgu (Marrku) is an extinct [3] Aboriginal language of northern Australia. Additional names include Ajokoot, Croker Island, Raffles Bay , Terrutong (Terutong), Yaako (Jaako, Yako). [1]

Contents

Classification

Marrgu had been assumed to be an Iwaidjan language like its neighbours. However, Evans (2006) has produced evidence that it was a language isolate, with possible connection to the extinct and poorly attested Wurrugu. [2]

Phonology

Consonant inventory

Marrgu consonants [4]
Peripheral Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive pkct̪tʈ
Nasal mŋɲn̪nɳ
Approximant wɣjɻ
Trill r
Flap ɽ
Lateral (ʎ)lɭ
Lateral flap ɺ⟨ld⟩𝼈⟨rld⟩

Vowels

Marrgu has the three-vowel (/a/,/i/,/u/) system typical of Iwaidjan languages (Evans 1998).

Front Back
High i u
Low a

References

  1. 1 2 Marrgu at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 N45 Marrgu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ↑ Christopher Moseley; Alexandre Nicolas (2010). "Atlas of the world's languages in danger". UNESCO . p. 209. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
  4. ↑ Evans, Nicholas (1998). "Iwaidja mutation and its origins". In Anna Siewierska & Jae Jung Song. Case, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 115–149.
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