Gaagudju language

Gaagudju
Region Northern Territory
Extinct May 2002, with the death of Big Bill Neidjie
Arnhem
  • Gaagudju
Dialects
Wada
Language codes
ISO 639-3 gbu
Glottolog gaga1251[1]
AIATSIS[2] N50

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  Gaagudju

Gaagudju (also spelt Gagadu, Gaguju, and Kakadu) is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language formerly spoken in Arnhem Land, northern Australia, in the environs of Kakadu National Park. Its last speaker, Big Bill Neidjie, died on 23 May 2002.

Classification

Gaagudju has traditionally been classified with the Gunwinyguan languages. However, in 1997 Nicholas Evans proposed an Arnhem Land family that includes Gaagudju.

Phonology

Vowels

Front Back
High i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Low a aː

Consonants

Peripheral Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Stop p k c t ʈ
Nasal m ŋ ɲ n ɳ
Lateral ʎ l
Rhotic r ɻ
Semivowel w j

References

  1. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Gagadu". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  2. ↑ Gaagudju at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

External links