Wemba Wemba dialect

Wemba-Wemba
RegionVictoria
EthnicityWemba-Wemba
Extinct(date missing)
Language codes
ISO 639-3xww
Glottologwemb1241
AIATSISD1
ELPWemba-Wemba
Location of Wemba Wemba Country in Victoria and New South Wales

Wemba Wemba is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language that was spoken by the Wemba-Wemba people along the Murray River and its tributaries in north-western Victoria and south-central New South Wales.

Classification

Wemba Wemba is a Kulin language, of the Pama-Nyungan family.

Dialects

Barababaraba was a dialect of Wemba Wemba. Nari Nari may have also been a dialect.

Etymology

The language's name follows the reduplicating pattern of many Aboriginal language names: wemba translates to "no".

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Retroflex Velar
Stop p t̪ t c ʈ k
Nasal m n ɲ ɳ ŋ
Lateral l ɭ
Rhotic r ɽ
Approximant w j

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close ɪ, i ʊ, u
Mid ɛ, e ə ɔ, o
Open a

Voiced consonant sounds only occur within prenasalized stops. Prenasal consonants include: /mb/ /nd/ /ndy/ /ng/ and /rnd/. In phonetic form they are pronounced as [mb] [nd] [ɲɟ] [ŋɡ] and [ɳɖ].

Vocabulary

Below is a basic vocabulary list from Blake (1981).

EnglishWemba-Wemba
manbeng
womanlerg
motherguinggurin
fathermam
headmurreng
eyemir
noseganyug
earwirimbula
mouthdyarb
tonguedyaling
toothlia
handmanye
breastgurm
stomachbili
urinegir
faecesguni
thighgareburdug
footdyine
bonemerderug
bloodgurg
dogwilgar
snakegurnwil
kangaroogure (grey), bara (red)
possumwile
fishyauwirr
spiderwirimbeliny
mosquitoliri
emudyurung-wil
eaglehawkbanggel
crowwa
sunnyaui
stardurd
stonela
watergaden
camplar
firewanab
smokeburd
meatbenggug
standdyerriga
sitnyengga
seenyaga
goyangga
getgarga
hitdaga (barrangguna 'kill')
Iyandang
youngin
onegebin
twobuledya

Influence on English

At least four botanical terms in Australian English are thought to have been introduced into local speech from Wemba-Wemba:

References

  1. ↑ "D1: Wemba Wemba". Austlang. AIATSIS. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  2. ↑ D1 Wemba-Wemba at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. 1 2 "AIATSIS AustLang Online". aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
  4. ↑ "AIATSIS AustLang Online". aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Hercus, Luise A. (1992). Wembawemba Dictionary.
  6. ↑ Blake, Barry J. (1981). Australian Aboriginal languages: a general introduction. London: Angus & Robertson Publishers. ISBN 0-207-14044-8.
  7. 1 2 3 Clarke, Philip A. (2008). Aboriginal Plant Collectors: Botanists and Australian Aboriginal People in the Nineteenth Century. Rosenberg. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-877058-68-4. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of English, p 2,054.