Marrgu language

Marrgu (Marrku) is a recently extinct Aboriginal language of northern Australia. Additional names include Ajokoot, Croker Island, Raffles Bay, Terrutong (Terutong), Yaako (Jaako, Yako).[1]

Marrgu
Yaako
Native toAustralia
RegionCroker Island, Northern Territory
EthnicityYaako
Extinct1 speaker reported in 2000;[1] 2 reported to partly understand it in 2008[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mhg
Glottologmarg1251
AIATSIS[2]N45
ELPMarrgu
Marrgu language (purple arrow), among other non-Pama–Nyungan languages (grey)
Closeup

Classification

Marrgu had been assumed to be an Iwaidjan language like its neighbours. However, Evans (2006) has produced evidence that it was a language isolate,[2] with possible connection to the extinct and poorly attested Wurrugu. This connection however is merely theoretical.

Phonology

Consonant inventory

Marrgu consonants[3]
Peripheral Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive pkctʈ
Nasal mŋɲnɳ
Approximant wɣjɻ
Trill r
Flap ɽ
Lateral (ʎ)lɭ
Lateral flap ɺ ld𝼈 rld

Vowels

Marrgu had the three-vowel (/a/, /i/, /u/) system typical of Iwaidjan languages (Evans 1998).

Front Back
High i u
Low a

References

  1. Marrgu language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. N45 Marrgu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. Evans, Nicholas (1998). "Iwaidja mutation and its origins". In Anna Siewierska & Jae Jung Song. Case, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 115–149.
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