Diyari language

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Diyari
Spoken in:	South Australia
Language extinction:	?
Language family:	Pama-Nyungan Karnic Karna Diyari
Writing system:	Latin alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`aus`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	`dif`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

Diyari or Dieri is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of South Australia.

1 Phonology
- 1.1 Vowels
- 1.2 Consonants
2 Grammar
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Low	a

[edit] Consonants

		Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
		Bilabial	Velar	Palatal	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex
Stop	Voiceless	p	k	c	t̪	t	ʈ
Stop	Voiced					d~dʳ	ɖ
Nasal		m	ŋ	ɲ	n̪	n	ɳ
Lateral				ʎ	l̪	l	ɭ
Trill						[r]
Flap						[ɾ]
Approximant		w		j			ɻ

The voiced alveolar stop [d] may have trilled release [dʳ] depending on dialect. Peter Austin (1988) suggests that this is due to Yandruwanhdha influence.

The voiced retroflex stop /ɖ/ often becomes a tap [ɽ] between vowels.

The stop [d]~[dʳ] is complementary distribution with both the trill [r] and the flap [ɾ]. Austin (1981) analysed the trill [r] as being the intervocalic allophone of /d/~/dʳ/, with the flap /ɾ/ being a separate phoneme. R. M. W. Dixon (2002) suggests that [ɾ] could be considered the intervocalic allophone of /d/~/dʳ/, so then /r/ would be a separate phoneme. Having /d/ realized as [ɾ] would parallel the realization of /ɖ/ as [ɽ], and having /r/ rather than /ɾ/ as a phoneme matches most other Australian languages.

[edit] Grammar

Diyari has three different morphosyntactic alignments:

Singular common nouns and male personal names follow an absolutive-ergative system.
Plural first and second person pronouns follow a nominative-accusative system.
Plural common nouns, female personal names and other pronouns follow a tripartite system.

[edit] References

Austin, Peter K. (1981). A grammar of Diyari, South Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Austin, Peter K. (1988). "Trill-released stops and language change in Central Australian languages". Australian Journal of Linguistics 8: 218–245.
Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Trefry, David (1970). “The phonological word in Dieri”, Laycock, D. C.: Linguistic trends in Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies, 65–73.