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Ngadjunmaya language

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Ngadjunmaya
Ngadjumaya
Native toAustralia
RegionGoldfields-Esperance; Eyre’s Sand Patch, Goddard Creek to Port Malcolm, to Fraser Range, to Naretha and Point Culver, at Mount Andres, Russell Range, Balladonia, and Norseman
EthnicityNgadjunmaia, ?Murunitja
Native speakers
20 (2021)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nju
Glottologngad1258
AIATSIS[1]A3

Ngadjunmaya, correctly known as Ngadjumaya[citation needed], is a Pama–Nyungan language of Western Australia that is located in the Goldfields-Esperance region.

Murunitja was apparently a dialect of either Ngadjumaya or of Mirning.

Phonology

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Vowels

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Three vowels with length are present:

Front Back
High i     u    
Low a    
  • /i/ can also be heard as [e] before a velar /k/, and as [ɛ ~ æ] before palatal sounds /ʎ, j/.
  • /a/ can also be heard as [ɔ] when following sounds /w, j/, and as [o] when following /k/.
  • /u/ can also be heard as fronted [ʏ] when preceding /j/.

Consonants

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Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p k c t ʈ
Nasal m ŋ ɲ n ɳ
Lateral ʎ l ɭ
Rhotic r ɽ
Approximant w j
  • /ɽ/ can be heard as either a tap [ɽ] or a glide [ɻ].
  • /r/ can be heard as either a trill [r] or a tap [ɾ].
  • /k/ can also have a voiced allophone of [ɣ] when in word-medial positions.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b A3 Ngadjunmaya at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ^ von Brandenstein, C. G. (1980). Ngadjumaja: An Aboriginal Language of South-East Western Australia. Innsbruck: AMOE.