Ngarla language
| Ngarla | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Port Hedland area of Western Australia |
Native speakers | 4 (2010)[1] |
|
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
nrk |
| Glottolog |
ngar1286[2] |
| AIATSIS[3] |
A79* |
Ngarla is a Pama–Nyungan language of Western Australia. It is possibly mutually intelligible with Panyjima and Martuthunira, but the three are considered distinct languages.
Ngarla is classified as a member of the Ngayarda branch of the Pama–Nyungan languages. Dench (1995) believed there was insufficient data to enable it to be confidently classified, but Bowern & Koch (2004) include it without proviso.
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Dorso-velar | Lamino-palatal | Apico-alveolar | Retroflex | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ̻ | n̺ | ɳ |
| Stop | p | k | c̻ | t̺ | ʈ |
| Lateral | ʎ̻ | l̺ | ɭ | ||
| Rhotic | ɾ | ɽ | |||
| Semivowel | w | j | |||
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː |
| Low | a aː | |
The long vowels are rare.
Grammar
Tense markers
Ngarla tense markers for verbs [4]
| Tense marker | Tense |
|---|---|
| -n | past |
| -ngkaya | present |
| -kuRa | future |
Notes
- ↑ Westerlund, T: När engelskan kom till Australien, page 51. Språktidningen, February 2010. (In Swedish)
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Ngarla". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Ngarla at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ↑ Languages of the World: Indo-Pacific Fascicle Six”, Geoffrey O’Grady, C. F. Voegelin and F. M. Voegelin (1966:82)
References
- ”A grammatical sketch of Ngarla: A language of Western Australia”, Torbjörn Westerlund, 2007. (PDF version)
External links
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