Jaminjung language

Jaminjung
Native toAustralia
RegionVictoria River (Northern Territory)
Native speakers
29 (2016)
Mirndi
Dialects
  • Ngaliwuru
Language codes
ISO 639-3djd
Glottologdjam1255
AIATSISN18 Jaminjung, N19 Ngaliwurru
ELPJaminjung
 Ngaliwurru
Jaminjung is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
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Jaminjung is a moribund Australian language spoken around the Victoria River in the Northern Territory of Australia. There seems to be a steady increase in the number of speakers of the language with very few people speaking the language in 1967, about 30 speakers in 1991, and between 50 and 150 speakers in 2000.

In 1971, Frances Kofod and others published a grammar of the Ngaliwuru language, while in 2011 a book of Jaminjung & Ngaliwuru names and uses of plants & animals was published.

Phonology

Vowels

Jaminjung has 4 vowels:

Front Central Back
Close i /i/ u /u/
Close-mid e /e/
Open a /a/

Vowel length is not distinctive. The close-mid vowel /e/ only appears in a small number of words, and is probably a loan from surrounding languages.

Consonants

Jaminjung has 18 consonants:

Peripheral Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p /p/ k /k/ j /c/ th /t̪/ t /t/ rt /ʈ/
Nasal m /m/ ng /ŋ/ ny /ɲ/ n /n/ rn /ɳ/
Trill rr /r/
Approximant ly /ʎ/ l /l/ rl /ɭ/
w /w/ y /j/ r /ɻ/

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Jaminjung at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ N18 Jaminjung at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  3. ↑ Schultze-Berndt 2000, pp. 13–14
  4. ↑ Janet E. Bolt; William G. Hoddinott; Kofod, Frances Mary (1971), An elementary grammar of the Ngaliwuru language of the Northern Territory, Wikidata Q131317614 {{Cite Q}}: Missing first/last names in Wikidata for Janet E. Bolt, William G. Hoddinott (help)
  5. ↑ Judy Merchant Jones; Dolly Bardbarriya; Eileen Raymond; et al. (2011). "Jaminjung, Ngaliwurru and Nungali plants and animals: Aboriginal flora and fauna knowledge from the Bradshaw and Judbarra/Gregory National Park area, north Australia". Northern Territory Botanical Bulletin. 38. Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation. ISBN 978-1-921519-49-9. Wikidata Q131319408.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link) {{Cite Q}}: Missing first/last names in Wikidata for Judy Merchant Jones, Dolly Bardbarriya, Eileen Raymond (help)
  6. 1 2 3 Schultze-Berndt 2000, p. 41

General