Mirndi languages

The Mirndi or Mindi languages are an Australian language family spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia. The family consists of two sub-groups, the Yirram languages and the Barkly languages some 200 km farther to the southeast, separated by the Ngumpin languages.[1][2] The primary difference between the two sub-groups is that while the Yirram languages are all prefixing like other non-Pama–Nyungan languages, the Barkly languages are all suffixing like most Pama–Nyungan languages.[3]

Mirndi
Mindi
Geographic
distribution
Victoria River and Barkly Tableland, Northern Territory
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions
Glottologmirn1241
  Yirram
  Barkly (Jingulu + Ngurlun)
  other non-Pama–Nyungan families

The name of the family is derived from the dual inclusive pronoun ('we', in the sense of 'you and I') which is shared by all the languages in the family in the form of either mind- or mirnd-.[1]

Classification

The family has been generally accepted after being first established by Neil Chadwick in the early 1980s. The genetic relationship is primarily based upon morphology and not lexical comparison,[3] with the strongest evidence being found among the pronouns. However, "there are very few other systematic similarities in other areas of grammar[, which] throw some doubts on the Mirndi classification, making it less secure than generally accepted."[4] Nonetheless, as of 2008 proto-Mirndi has been reconstructed.[5]

Mirndi 
 Yirram 

Nungali

Jaminjung

Jingulu

 Ngurlun 

Ngarnka

Wambaya

An additional language may be added, Ngaliwurru. However, it is unsure whether it is a language on its own, or merely a dialect of the Jaminjung language.[2][6][7][8][9] The same is true for Gudanji and Binbinka, although these are generally considered dialects of the Wambaya language. These three dialects are collectively referred to as the McArthur River languages.[3][8][10]

Vocabulary

Due to the close contact been the Yirram languages and the Barkly languages, and the Ngumpin languages and other languages as well, many of the cognates that the Yirram and Barkly languages share may in fact be loanwords, especially of Ngumpin origin.[1] For instance, while the Barkly language Jingulu only shares 9% of its vocabulary with its Yirram relative, the Ngaliwurru dialect of the Jaminjung language, it shares 28% with the nearby Ngumpin language Mudburra.[3]

Within the Barkly branch, the Jingulu language shares 29% and 28% of its vocabulary with its closest relatives, the Wambaya language and the Ngarnka language, respectively. The Ngarnka language shares 60% of its vocabulary with the Wambaya language, while the Wambaya language shares 69% and 78% with its dialects, Binbinka and Gudanji, respectively. Finally, these two dialects share 88% of their vocabulary.[10]

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[11]

gloss NungaliJilngaliDjämindjungNgaliwuru
man diːimbuldjumbuldjumbuldjumbul
woman njäŋaːruŋŋaruŋmalɛjiŋaruŋ
head niimburuguɽunjuŋgulagadjumburu
eye mijaŋargindjuwuddjuwaddjuwud
nose nijuijadjuwijadjuwijadjuwija
mouth nijaradjäradjäradjära
tongue niaŋandjilindjalaṉdjalaṉdjalan
stomach meuŋugburumagalamagala
bone guːdjinbunu, gujuwangujuwangujuwan
blood guŋulugarŋanwurinjunguŋulu
kangaroo dijaŋarajaŋarajaŋarajaŋara
opossum djaŋanaŋurgudidjägulädjidjägulädji
emu gumurindji
crow duagiragwaŋguɽinwaŋginawaŋgina
fly diridjburugunämanämbulgunäma
sun njailänwulŋanwulŋanwaŋgu
moon dabaraŋaɽabaraŋandjägilinbaɽaŋan
fire nujuggujuggujuggujug
smoke niulaṉdjuwulaṉdjuwulaṉdjuːlaṉ
water gogogogogogogogo

Proto-language

Proto-Mirndi
Reconstruction ofMirndi languages

Proto-Mirndi reconstructions by Harvey (2008):[5]

no.glossProto-Mirndi
1to hang, to tip*jalalang
2high, up*thangki
3women's song style*jarra(r)ta
4that (not previously mentioned)*jiyi
5mother's father*jaju
6woman's son*juka
7bird (generic)*ju(r)lak
8blind*kamamurri
9daughter's child*kaminyjarr
10cold*karrij
11chickenhawk*karrkany
12bull ant*(kija-)kija
13to tickle*kiji-kiji(k)
14red ochre*kitpu
15shitwood*kulinyjirri
16dove sp.*kuluku(ku)
17sky*kulumarra
18throat, didgeridoo*kulumpung
19urine*kumpu
20firestick*kungkala
21pollen*kuntarri
22flesh*kunyju
23fat*kurij
24bush turkey*kurrkapati
25boomerang*kurrupartu
26club*ku(r)turu
27shield*kuwarri
28fire*kuyVka
29father-in-law*lamparra
30car*langa
31bony*larrkaja
32plant sp.*lawa
33eagle*lirraku
34blue-tongue lizard*lungkura
35to return*lurrpu
36to wave*mamaj
37ear*manka
38plant sp.*manyanyi
39gutta percha tree*manyingila
40butterfly*marli-marli
41old man*marluka
42all right, later*marntaj
43human status term*marntak
44circumcision ritual*marntiwa
45upper leg, thigh, root*mira
46owl*mukmuk
47to be dark*mu(wu)m
48scorpion*muntarla
49string*munungku
50upper arm*murlku
51three*murrkun
52to name*nij
53hand*nungkuru
54female antilopine wallaroo*ngalijirri
55to lick*ngalyak
56to sing*nganya
57bauhinia*ngapilipili
58father's mother*ngapuju
59breast*ngapulu
60to be hot*ngartap
61bird sp.*nyurijman
62to dream*pank(iy)aja
63older brother*papa
64nightjar*parnangka
65young woman*parnmarra
66women's dance*pa(r)ntimi
67moon*partangarra
68baby*partarta
69hot weather*parung(ku)
70cicatrice*pa(r)turu
71scraper*pin(y)mala
72father*pipi
73snake (generic)*pulany
74to bathe*pulukaj(a)
75ashes*puna
76full*punturr/tu
77to finish*purrp
78dreaming*puwarraja
79deep (hole)*tarlukurra
80flame, light*tili/u
81to be tied up*tirrk
82feather*tiya-tiya
83to poke*turrp
84to open*walk
85woomera*wa(r)lmayi
86black-headed python*warlujapi
87strange(r)*warnayaki
88grass (generic)*warnta
89to scratch*warr
90number seven boomerang*warratirla
91freshwater crocodile*warrija
92to be together*warrp
93parrot sp.*wilikpan
94new*yalang
95initiated youth*yapa
96magic song*yarrinti
97young man*yarrulan

References

Notes

  1. Schultze-Berndt 2000, p. 8
  2. McConvell, Patrick (2009), "'Where the spear sticks up' – The variety of locatives in placenames in the Victoria River District, Northern Territory", in Koch, Harold; Hercus, Luise (eds.), Aboriginal Placenames: Naming and re-naming the Australian landscape, ANU E-Press, pp. 359–402, ISBN 978-1-921666-08-7
  3. Green, Ian (1995). "The death of 'prefixing': contact induced typological change in northern Australia". Berkeley Linguistics Society. 21: 414–425.
  4. Bowern, Claire; Koch, Harold (2004), Australian languages: Classification and the comparative method, John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 14–15, ISBN 978-1-58811-512-6
  5. Harvey, Mark (2008). Proto Mirndi: A discontinuous language family in Northern Australia. PL 593. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 978-0-85883-588-7.
  6. Pensalfini, Robert J. (2001), "On the Typological and Genetic Affiliation of Jingulu", in Simpson, Jane; Nash, David; Laughren, Mary; Austin, Peter; Alpher, Barry (eds.), Forty years on Ken Hale and Australian languages, Pacific Linguistics, pp. 385–399
  7. Schultze-Berndt 2000, p. 7
  8. Harvey, Mark; Nordlinger, Rachel; Green, Ian (2006). "From Prefixes to Suffixes: Typological Change in Northern Australia". Diachronica. 23 (2): 289–311. doi:10.1075/dia.23.2.04har.
  9. Schultz-Berndt, Eva F. (2002), "Constructions in Language Description", Functions of Language, 9 (2): 267–308
  10. Pensalfini, Robert J. (1997), Jingulu Grammar, Dictionary, and Texts, Massachusetts, United States: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, p. 19
  11. 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

12. Chadwick, Neil (1997) "The Barkly and Jaminjungan Languages: A Non-Contiguous Genetic Grouping In North Australia" in Tryon, Darrell, Walsh, Michael, eds. Boundary Rider: Essays in honour of Geoffrey O'Grady. Pacific Linguistics, C-136

General

  • Schultze-Berndt, Eva F. (2000), Simple and Complex Verbs in Jaminjung – A Study of event categorisation in an Australian language
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