Yawuru language

Yawuru is a Western Nyulnyulan language spoken on the coast south of Broome in Western Australia.

Yawuru
RegionAustralia
EthnicityYawuru, Jukun
Native speakers
152 (2021 census)[1]
Nyulnyulan
  • Eastern
    • Yawuru
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3ywr
Glottologyawu1244
AIATSIS[2]K1
ELPYawuru
Map of the traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Derby, Western Australia. Yawuru is the dark blue.[3]

Grammatically it resembles other Nyulnyulan languages. It has a relatively free word order.[4]

By the late 1990s the number of fluent speakers of Yawuru had dropped to a handful but a few younger people dedicated themselves to learning the language and they are now teaching it in schools and in adult classes, in Broome.[5]

Phonology

The vowel phonemes are short vowels /ɪ/, /a/, and /u/, and long vowels /iː/, /aː/, and /ʊː/ (spelled ii, aa, uu).

Consonantal segments include:[6]

Bilabial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
plain palatalized
Stop voiceless p t t̠ʲ ʈ k/q
voiced b d d̠ʲ ɖ g
Nasal m n n̠ʲ ɳ ŋ
Approximant lateral l l̠ʲ ɭ
plain ɻ j w
Flap ɾ ɾʲ

Speakers also use glottal stops, implosives, and ejectives.

Syllable structure in the initial position is #CV(:) (C(C)), in the medial position is CV(:)(C), and in the final position is CV(C(C))#. # representing the word boundary, C standing for consonant, V for vowel, and V: for long vowel. The most common syllables are CV or CVC (CV: or CV:C).

Orthography

Vowels
  • a - [a]
  • i - [i]
  • u - [u]
  • aa - [aː]
  • ii - [iː]
  • uu - [uː]

Consonants
  • b - [b]
  • d - [d]
  • dy - [dʲ]
  • g - [g]
  • j - [d͡ʑ]
  • k - [k]
  • l - [l]
  • ly - [lʲ]
  • m - [m]
  • n - [n]
  • ny - [nʲ]
  • ng - [ŋ]
  • p - [p]
  • r - [ɾ]
  • rd - [ɖ]
  • rl - [ɭ]
  • rn - [ɲ]
  • rr - [ɻ]
  • rry - [rʲ]
  • t - [t]
  • ty - [tʲ]
  • w - [w]
  • y - [j]
  • ' - [ʔ][7]

Grammar

There is no noun class in Yawuru. Adverbs belong to the same class as nominals. There is a verb class. Nouns and adjectives are distinguished through semantic context.

Morphology

Nominals inflect for case and adverbs, belonging to this class, take case markers. Case markers are signified by enclitics. Nominals do not have a declension class. Verbs inflect to denote person, number, tense, mood, and aspect. Prefixes, suffixes, and enclitics are used to conjugate verbs.

There are four person categories in Yawuru: first person, second person, third person, and fourth person, which is made up by a first person inclusive (includes the speaker and the hearer).

Syntax

Word order is flexible, with the verb often preceding the subject.

Vocabulary

Yawuru has a large borrowing from neighbouring Pama-Nyungan languages. The vocabulary is specifically strong in terms of environment, reflecting on the culture.

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  2. K1 Yawuru at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. This map is indicative only.
  4. Yawuru Ngan-ga, a Phrasebook of the Yawuru Language, Magabala, 1995.
  5. "Yawuru Language". Nyamba Buru Yawuru. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  6. Hosokawa, K (1991). "The Yawuru Language of West Kimberly: a meaning based description". Australian National University.
  7. "Yawuru language and alphabet". Omniglot. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
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