Arabana language

Arabana
Arabana
Arabana-Wangkangurru
Region	South Australia; west side Lake Eyre to Stuart Range, Maree, Port Augusta
Ethnicity	Arabana people, Wongkanguru
Native speakers	31 (2021 census)
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Karnic Arabana; ;
Dialects	Piltapalta; Wangkakupa; Midlaliri; Wangkangurru ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ard
Glottolog	arab1267
AIATSIS	L13 Arabana (cover term)
ELP	Arabana-Wangkangurru
	Arabana is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Arabana or Arabuna /ˈʌrəbʌnə/ is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Pama–Nyungan family, spoken by the Wongkanguru and Arabana people.

The language is in steep decline, with an estimated 250 speakers according to 2004 NILS, to just 21 speakers found in the 2006 census.

Name

In Arabana, initial /ŋ/ underwent elision and this process continued into the 20th century (e.g. in 19th century wordlists, "yes" is given as ngarayi, but in 1994 the word was invariably pronounced arayi). Thus, the language's name used to be Ngarabana, rather than the current form Arabana.^: 32

Geographic distribution

Arabana was spoken at Neales River on the west side of Lake Eyre west to the Stuart Range; Macumba Creek south to Coward Springs; at Oodnadatta, Lora Creek, Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, and The Peake. Their boundary with the Kokatha people to their west is marked by the margin of the scarp of the western tableland near Coober Pedy.

Dialects

Each dialect had different varieties depending on the speaker's local group.^: 6

Piltapalta

Piltapalta, called "Arabana Proper" by linguist Luise Hercus, was spoken in the northern part of Arabana territory, south of the Macumba River and at Mount Dutton and Peake. Piltapalta translates to "taking something away from someone" and probably refers to an Arabana myth associated with Mount Dutton. Its last fluent speaker was Arthur McLean (⁠b. c. 1898 – d. 1975⁠).^: 6

Wangkakupa

Wangkakupa was spoken at Anna Creek Station. This was a major centre for Arabana people, and thus Wangkakupa is the best preserved dialect. The name translates to 'little language'.^: 6

Midlaliri

Midlaliri was spoken on the Stuart Range and its adjacent tablelands. The last speaker was Sam Warrpa from Coober Pedy, who died in the 1940s. Midlaliri is unrecorded, except for a few verses of song. The name is unanalysable.^: 6

Wangkangurru

Wangkangurru is also considered a dialect. It had 3 main varieties: Mikiri-nganha 'from the native wells', or Mungathirri-nganha 'from the high sandhills', spoken in the Simpson Desert; Marlu-papu-nganha 'from the Marlu-papu country' or Karla-nganha 'from the Creek', spoken on the Kallakoopah Creek and lower Diamantina River; and Eastern Wangkangurru, spoken by the descendants of Simpson Desert people who settled in the Birdsville area.^: 7

Phonology

Most of the nasals and laterals are allophonically prestopped.

	Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
	Bilabial	Velar	Palatal	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex
Stop	p	k	c	t̪	t	ɖ
Nasal	m ~ ᵇm	ŋ	ɲ ~ ᶡɲ	n̪ ~ ᵈ̪n̪	n ~ ᵈn	ɳ
Lateral			ʎ ~ ᶡʎ	l̪ ~ ᵈ̪l̪	l ~ ᵈl	ɭ
Vibrant					ɾ ~ r
Approximant	w		j		ɻ

Arabana has three phonemic vowel sounds as is typical in other Australian languages.

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Low	a

Example sentences

Below are examples of Arabana text with interlinear gloss:

Anthirda

me.LOC

pingka-nga

front-LOC

kari

they

yuka-rnda.

go-PRES

'They are walking along with me leading them.'

Anthirda

me.LOC

mankarra-nga

girl-LOC

motorcar

padni.

nothing

'When I was a little girl there were no cars around.'

Bibliography

Hercus, Luise. 1994. A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia: Pacific Linguistics C128. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

References

↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
1 2 3 L13 Arabana (cover term) at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
↑ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
↑
1 2 3 4 5 Hercus, Luise (1994). A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language. ISBN 0858834251.
↑ Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 135
↑ "The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages". OUP Academic. 13 June 2023. doi:10.1093/o.

External links

Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, representing traditional owners of Arabana country
Bibliographies of published, rare or special materials on Arabana language and people, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

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[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.

[AIATSIS-2] 1 2 3 L13 Arabana (cover term) at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

[3] Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh

[Dept._of_Linguistics,_Research_School_of_Pacific_Studies,_The_Australian_National_University1994-12-4] ↑

[Dept._of_Linguistics,_Research_School_of_Pacific_Studies,_The_Australian_National_University1994-1-5] 1 2 3 4 5 Hercus, Luise (1994). A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language. ISBN 0858834251.

[6] Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 135

[7] "The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages". OUP Academic. 13 June 2023. doi:10.1093/o.