Yawuru language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yawuru
RegionAustralia
EthnicityYawuru, Jukun
Native speakers
61 (2016 census)[1]
Nyulnyulan
  • Eastern
    • Yawuru
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3ywr
Glottologyawu1244
AIATSIS[2]K1
ELPYawuru
Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal Tribes around Derby.png
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[]

The vowel phonemes are short vowels /i/, /a/, and /u/, and long vowels /i:/, /a:/, and /u:/ (spelled ii, aa, uu).

Consonantal segments include:[6]

Bilabial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
plain palatalized
Stop voiceless p t tʲ ʈ k
voiced b d dʲ ɖ k/g
Nasal m n nʲ ɳ ŋ
Approximant lateral l lʲ ɭ
plain ɻ j w
Trill rʲ
Flap ɾ

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[]

Vowels[]

  • a - [a]
  • i - [i]
  • u - [u]
  • aa - [aː]
  • ii - [iː]
  • uu - [uː]

Consonants[]

  • 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[]

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[]

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[]

Word order is flexible, with the verb often preceding the subject.

Vocabulary[]

Yawuru has a large borrowing from Pama-Nyungan languages, neighboring languages. The vocabulary is specifically strong in terms of environment, reflecting on the culture.

References[]

  1. ^ "Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+)". stat.data.abs.gov.au. ABS. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  2. ^ K1 Yawuru at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ^ This map is indicative only.
  4. ^ Yawuru Ngan-ga, a Phrasebook of the Yawuru Language, Magabala, 1995.
  5. ^ "Yawuru Language".
  6. ^ Hosokawa, K (1991). "The Yawuru Language of West Kimberly: a meaning based description". Australian National University.
  7. ^ "Yawuru language and alphabet". Omniglot. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
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