Southern Daly languages
The Southern Daly languages are a proposed family of two distantly related Australian aboriginal languages. They are:
- Murrinh-patha (Murinbata)
- Ngan’gityemerri (Ngan’gi)
| Southern Daly | |
|---|---|
| (generally accepted) | |
| Geographic distribution | Daly River region, northern Australia |
| Linguistic classification | Proposed language family |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | sout2772 |
 The Daly languages (color), among the other non-Pama-Nyungan languages (grey) | |
.png.webp) Southern Daly languages. Murrinh-patha is on the coast, Ngan’gityemerri in the interior. | |
Classification
Southern Daly is a distant and problematic relationship. Murrinh-Patha was once thought to be an isolate, due to lexical data: It has, at most, an 11-percent shared vocabulary with any other language against which it has been compared.[1] However, Murrinh-patha and Ngan’gityemerri correspond closely in their verbal inflections. Green (2003) makes a case that the formal correspondences in core morphological sequences of their finite verbs are too similar (in their complexities and their irregularities) to have come about through anything other than a shared genetic legacy from a common parent language.[2] Nonetheless, lexically they have almost nothing in common, other than cognates in their words for 'thou' (nhinhi and nyinyi) and 'this' (kanhi and kinyi),[3] and it is not clear what could explain this discrepancy.
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary items are from Tryon (1968).[4]
no. gloss Tyemeri Ngengomeri 1 head dæpe dæpe 2 hair wičæ wuǰa 3 eyes dæmoy damoy 4 nose dæši dæče 5 ear dæčære dæčære 6 tooth dædir dædir 7 tongue dæčæn ŋalŋijiak 8 shoulder tamæmbɛr dada 9 elbow mïnmïrpïr dličiwuwul 10 hand dæmæ dæmæ 11 breasts če čiye 12 back dædære dædære 13 belly dægæ damarde 14 navel dæčɛre dæčɛre 15 heart kækulkul kækulgul 16 urine waga waga 17 excrete ŋækïn nïkïnmœr 18 thigh dæbe dæbe 19 leg dagare dagare 20 knee dænïnǰe dærɛnǰe 21 foot dæᵽïr dæbir 22 skin agarᵽure agaraburo 23 fat aleye adæwe 24 blood ᵽæčæn pučæn 25 bone ame ame 26 man yæde mipuR 27 woman ᵽalme palme 28 father ŋača ŋača 29 mother kala ala 30 grandmother mæŋgæ mæŋgæ 31 policeman wamumur wamɔmɔ 32 spear yawul yawul 33 woomera yagama yagama 34 boomerang kuɲuŋuɲ kuɲuŋuɲ 35 nullanulla magulbe magulbɔ 36 hair-belt woyčær wuǰa 37 canoe yænïŋgïǰe kænægïǰe 38 axe bi bi 39 dilly bag waRgaRde waRguduʔ 40 fire yæŋge yæŋge 41 smoke tawan dawan 42 water kure kurɔ 43 cloud wɔ wɔ 44 rainbow aŋemuŋge aŋamuŋgi 45 barramundi ætælmær awalaŋir 46 sea kuruŋgur kuričæwæ 47 river diRpædær kuripædæR 48 stone ᵽæpe pæpe 49 ground ŋičir ŋičïr 50 track mumba mumba 51 dust baᵽun pabun 52 sun mire mïre 53 moon diwin diwiɳ 54 star ŋanimæ ŋanimær 55 night kulče nïmbe ŋaniŋeye 56 tomorrow ŋuɲananïŋge wadænige 57 today dæčaŋe čawɔrɔ 58 big kæRæ yɛrmïnbade 59 possum awuye awuye 60 dog wowo wowo 61 tail akïme dapuR 62 meat kagɔ kagɔ 63 snake æƀæŋgo abæŋgo 64 red kangaroo amače amače 65 porcupine aŋaneƀiɲe aŋaneƀiɲi 66 emu ŋuRp kɔmɔɛnǰil 67 crow awaŋge awak 68 goanna æmængïɲ mængiɲ 69 blue tongue lizard æƀære æbære 70 mosquito aƀuŋe aƀuŋe 71 sugar-bag pïŋgïlǰa puŋgudluʔ 72 camp dædæ dædær 73 black čipma čipma 74 white bwimaŋgare boymæm 75 red ᵽïlᵽïlŋïne pïlbïlŋïne 76 one wokumæ wuŋguwæ 77 two fagare wagare 78 when? æčæ æčæ 79 what? čagane čagane 80 who? kænæ kænæ 81 I ŋaie ŋaie 82 you ɲiɲi ɲiɲi 83 he næm næm 84 grass wurɔ wuR 85 vegetable food meye miye 86 tree yæwɛR yawuR 87 leaf merïŋge mirïŋge 88 pandanus yærïge yærge 89 ironwood mawuɲ mawuɲ 90 ripe mibin mibin 91 good yubɔ yubɔ 92 bad wulæk wulæk 93 blind palakɲim tarawɔrɔ 94 deaf ŋamama waŋamama 95 saliva čarawɔ čæræwul
See also
References
- Reid, N.J. Ngan’gityemerri. Unpublished PhD thesis, Australian National University, Canberra, 1990.
- Green, I. "The Genetic Status of Murrinh-patha" in Evans, N., ed. "The Non-Pama-Nyungan Languages of Northern Australia: comparative studies of the continent’s most linguistically complex region". Studies in Language Change, 552. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 2003.
- Note that Ngan’gityemerri has no nh, and so one would expect it to have ny where its relatives have nh.
- Tryon, Darrell T. "The Daly River Languages: A Survey". In Aguas, E.F. and Tryon, D. editors, Papers in Australian Linguistics No. 3. A-14:21-49. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1968. doi:10.15144/PL-A14.21
- Tryon, D. T. (1968). "The Daly River languages: a survey". Papers in Australian Linguistics. 3: 21–36.
- Tryon, D. T. (1974). Daly family languages, Australia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.