Yinjibarndi language

Yinjibarndi is a Pama–Nyungan language spoken by the Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara region in north-western Australia.

Yinjibarndi
Burnugundi, Mandanjingu
Native toAustralia
RegionRoebourne region of Western Australia
EthnicityYindjibarndi
Native speakers
380 (2021 census)[1]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3yij
Glottologyind1247
AIATSIS[2]W37
ELPYindjibarndi

Yinjibarndi is mutually intelligible with Kurrama, but the two are considered distinct languages by their speakers.

Classification

Yindjibarndi is classified as a member of the Ngayarta branch of the Pama–Nyungan languages. Under Carl Georg von Brandenstein's 1967 classification, Yindjibarndi was classed as an Inland Ngayarda language, but the separation of the Ngayarda languages into Coastal and Inland groups is no longer considered valid.

Sounds
Consonant phonemes[3]
Peripheral Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p k c t̪ t ʈ
Nasal m ŋ ɲ n̪ n ɳ
Rhotic ɾ~r
Lateral l ɭ
Approximant w j ð̞ ɻ
Vowel inventory[3]
FrontBack
High i, iː u, uː
Low a, aː oː

Grammar

Pronouns

Yindjibarndi, like Lardil, has pronouns that indicate whether the referents include two people separated by an odd number of generations or not.

Influence on other languages

The verb yandy, meaning 'to separate (grain or pieces of mineral) by shaking in a special shallow dish', comes from Yindjibarndi.[4]

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  2. W37 Yinjibarndi at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. Wordick, F. J. F. (1982). The Yindjibarndi language. Pacific Linguistics Series C. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-265-8.
  4. Oxford Dictionary of English, p 2,055.


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