Marrku–Wurrugu languages
The Marrku–Wurrugu languages are a possible language family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in the Cobourg Peninsula region of Western Arnhem Land. They are Marrgu, with one remaining speaker as of 2011, and the extinct Wurrugu.[1] They were once classified as distant relatives of the other Iwaidjan languages, until Nicholas Evans found the evidence for Marrgu's membership insufficient, concluding that similarities were due to borrowing (including of verbal paradigms).[2]
| Marrku–Wurrugu | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Cobourg Peninsula region and Croker Island, Northern Territory |
| Linguistic classification | no demonstrable relatives |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | marr1257 |
The genetic grouping of Marrgu and Wurrugu is supported by the following observations:[1]
- Despite being geographically separated by the Garig-Ilgar languages, the two languages share a relatively high cognacy rate (15 out of 43 words = ~35%).
- Both languages contain an interdental phoneme [dh], which is absent in the surrounding Iwaidjan languages.
Vocabulary
Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[3]
gloss Mara Margu man gärijimar geiag woman girija njunɔn head maraŋuɽu waɽi eye maguɽ daːɭa nose djiɽi ɣïːni mouth ŋaːndal ŋaɽjad tongue djiːjil ŋaɽjad stomach gunjan ɣiwud bone ŋajigad aruwa blood ŋulidji didjaːridj kangaroo girmọ wïːdjud opossum gudjaɳi wiːɽiɽin emu djiwiɖiwiɖi mangunuba crow waŋganaŋi reimbiriri fly guɳɖil mɔlg sun gunaru muɽi moon waɖaŋari rana fire waɖgar djuːɳa smoke guŋoŋo ŋoɭan water ŋọgọ wobaidj
References
- Evans, N. (1996). "First and last notes on Wurrugu." University of Melbourne Working Papers in Linguistics, 16, 91–97
- Nicholas Evans (2016). 1. As intimate as it gets? Paradigm borrowing in Marrku and its implications for the emergence of mixed languages. In Felicity Meakins, Carmel O'Shannessy (Eds.), Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation (pp. 29–56). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
- Capell, Arthur. 1941-1942, 1942-1943. Languages of Arnhem Land, North Australia. Oceania 12: 364-392, 13: 24-51.
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