Worrorran languages
The Worrorran (Wororan) languages are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Western Australia.
| Worrorran | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Northern Kimberley region,[1] west of Wyndham |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | worr1236 |
 Map of the Worrorran languages[2] | |
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
- McGregor, William (2004), The languages of the Kimberley, Western Australia, RoutledgeCurzon, ISBN 978-0-415-30808-3
- 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.
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Worrorran languages". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
- 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
- Clendon, Mark (2014). Worrorra: a language of the north-west Kimberley coast (PDF). University of Adelaide. ISBN 978-1-922064-59-2.
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