Nyigina language

Last updated

Nyikina
RegionLower Fitzroy River, Western Australia
Ethnicity Nyigina
Native speakers
61 (2016 census) [1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nyh
Glottolog nyig1240
AIATSIS [2] K3
ELP Nyikina

Nyikina (also Nyigina, Njigina) is an Australian Aboriginal language of Western Australia, spoken by the Nyigina people.

Contents

Warrwa may have been a dialect.

Classification

R. M. W. Dixon (2002) regards Nyikina, Warrwa, Yawuru and Jukun as a single language.

Nyikina is placed in the Nyulnyulan family of non-Pama–Nyungan languages.

Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Derby, Western Australia Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal Tribes around Derby.png
Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Derby, Western Australia

Phonology

Consonants

Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive b ɡ ɟ d ɖ
Nasal m ŋ ɲ n ɳ
Lateral ʎ l ɭ
Tap ɾ
Approximant w j ɻ

Vowels

Front Back
High i u
Low a
PhonemeAllophones
/i/[ i ], [ ɪ ]
/a/[ ä ], [ ɑ ], [ ʌ ], [ æ ]
/u/[ u ], [ ʊ ]

See also

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References

  1. "Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+)". stat.data.abs.gov.au. ABS. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  2. K3 Nyikina at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. This map is indicative only.
  4. Stokes, Bronwyn (1982). A Description of Nyigina, A Language of West Kimberley, Western Australia. Canberra: Australian National University.