Garawan languages

The Garawan languages (Garrwan), or Yanyi, are a small language family of Australian Aboriginal languages currently spoken in northern Australia.

Garawan
Yanyi, Garrwan
Geographic
distribution
Northern Territory and Queensland
Linguistic classificationMacro-Pama–Nyungan?
  • Greater Pama–Nyungan?
    • Garawan
Subdivisions
Glottologgarr1260
Garawan and Tangkic (green). Garawan is the group inland.

The languages are:

Gunindiri is almost entirely unknown.[1]

Garawan may be related to the Pama–Nyungan languages, though this is not accepted in Bowern 2011.[2] The languages are close: Dixon (2002) says that it should be straightforward to reconstruct proto-Garawa–Wanji.

Vocabulary

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[3]

gloss GaramaWaneiga
man gadujäba
woman balŋunludju
head bɛlbidgada
eye gamalmilba
nose djimumulju
mouth dädbilira
tongue djɛmandjälaṉ
stomach maːdamiälu
bone munugidji
blood gumuluŋdjugän
kangaroo ŋalmuŋgumaɭu
opossum jaːɭdjaŋana
crow waːgdjäŋilga
fly moːlŋurin
sun ŋuŋawanda
moon mɛrggirindji
fire ḏuŋguwaɽu
smoke wanaggundjuru
water goɽagabi

References

  1. C23 Gunindiri at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
  3. 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
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