Worrorran languages

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Not to be confused with Worrorra language.

Worrorran
Geographic
distribution		Northern Kimberley region,[1] west of Wyndham
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions
  • Wunambal
  • Ungarinyin
  • Worrorra
Glottologworr1236
Worrorran map.svg
Map of the Worrorran languages[2]

The Worrorran (Wororan) languages are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Western Australia.

The Worrorran languages fall into three dialect clusters:

  • the Northern Worrorran group, known as Wunambal and related dialects
  • the Eastern Worrorran group, known as Ngarinyin, AKA Ungarinyin, and related dialects
  • the Western Worrorran group, known as Worrorra, and related dialects

In addition, Gulunggulu is unattested but presumably a Worrorran lect.[3]

Validity[]

Worrorran languages (purple), among other non-Pama-Nyungan languages (grey)

There has been debate over whether the Worrorran languages are demonstrably related to one another, or constitute a geographical language group.

Dixon (2002) considers them to be language isolates with no demonstrable relationship other than that of a Sprachbund.

However, more recent literature differs from Dixon:

  • Rumsey and McGregor (2009) demonstrate the cohesiveness of the family and its reconstructibility, and;
  • Bowern (2011) accepts the Worroorran languages as a family.[4]

Vocabulary[]

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Worrorran languages:[5]

gloss Ungarinyin Munumburu Woljamidi Unggumi Worora Wunambal (1) Wunambal (2) Gambre Bargu Gwiːni
man aɽi, aɽu aɽi aɽi aɖi idja ɛndjin ɛndjin bɛndjin bɛndjin bɛndjin
woman wɔŋai, wulun wɔŋai wulun wɔŋaiinja wɔŋaiinja wɔŋai wɔŋai ŋaːli ŋaːli ŋaːli
head -alaŋgun -alaŋgun buŋguru -bama (ar)bri waːra baːndi baːndi baːndi baːndi
eye -ambul aiambul ambul jumbul ombula wumbul wumbul wumbul wumbul wumbul
nose -aiil njindjuru njindjuru jininde (ad)biŋu windji windji windji windji windji
mouth mindjäl mindjäl mɔga mindjäl (ar)djamundu mindjäl mindjäl mindjäl mɔga mɔga
tongue anbula mɔga almbɽa wanbulema anbula anbulɛ anbulɛ mindjäl mɔga mɔga
stomach ŋujen, mandu ŋuje mandu duduŋga (ar)gulum mɛːwur, mandu mɛːwur mala, ŋuju mala mala
bone aːnɔr awur ɔːnɔr janaurge inari bunar bunar awur bunar bunar
blood guli guli wundäbun guliːnga gulu ŋanda guli guli guli guli
kangaroo iali iali iali ware aːrura amba amba amba amba amba
opossum andäri, garimba andäri guman gundumanja burgumba gaiɛmba, ganari burgumba, garimba wuraba, guman wudɔɖa guman
emu djebara djebara djebara djebarinja djebarinja jiluluŋari wiɛri wiɛri wiɛri wiɛri
crow wa̱ŋgara wa̱ŋgara maɖiwa wa̱ŋgaranja wa̱ŋgaranja waːwanja waŋguɽa waŋguɽa waŋguɽa
fly ŋanauɛra wurŋun wurŋun wurŋare ŋanauara ŋanauara gaualjɛra ŋaːwan gaŋgu worŋa
sun maɽaŋi meɽiŋun maːri wandinja maraŋanja maɽaŋo maɽaŋi maɽaŋo mɔɽɔŋ mɔɽɔŋ
moon gunjili, gaɳgi gaɳgi gaːgiri ginjila gunjila goɽa, gaɳgi gunjili girŋal wamara gagari
fire windjäŋun windjäŋu wurgala wianga wianu windjäŋum buː windjäŋun buː wunar
smoke bindjän ŋundjur ŋundjur bindjäŋga bidjugu bindjän bindjägun ŋundjur ŋundjur ŋundjur
water ŋabun ŋawa jaːwal jaŋga agu jaːwal jaːwal ŋawa, jaːwal ŋawa ŋawa

References[]

  1. ^ McGregor, William (2004), The languages of the Kimberley, Western Australia, RoutledgeCurzon, ISBN 978-0-415-30808-3
  2. ^ Adapted from Rumsey, Alan. "The sociocultural dynamics of indigenous multilingualism in northwestern Australia". Language & Communication. 62: 91–101. doi:10.1016/j.langcom.2018.04.011. ISSN 0271-5309. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  3. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Worrorran languages". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
  5. ^ Capell, Arthur. 1940. The Classification of Languages in North and North-West Australia. Oceania 10(3): 241-272, 404-433. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1940.tb00292.x
  • Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • McGregor and Rumsey (2009). Worrorran Revisited: The Case for Genetic Relations Among Languages of the Northern Kimberley Region of Western Australia. Pacific Linguistics.

Further reading[]

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