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Marringarr language

The Maringarr language (Marri Ngarr, Marenggar, Maringa) is a moribund Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Marri Ngarr along the northwest coast of the Northern Territory.

Phonology

Consonants

  • /p/ may also be heard as a bilabial fricative [ɸ] in intervocalic positions.
  • /c/ may also be heard as a fricative [ʒ] in intervocalic positions.
  • /r/ may also be heard as a tap [ɾ], and can be realized as [rÌ¥] within the position of voiceless consonants.
  • /t, d, l/ are often be realized as retroflex [ʈ, ɖ, É­] when following a non-front vowel.
  • /t̪/ may also be heard as a fricative [ð] in intervocalic positions.
  • /β/ may also be heard as a voiceless [ɸ], in various word-initial positions.

Vowels

  • Sounds /i, u/ have lax allophones of [ɪ, ʊ] in word-medial and unstressed positions. They are mainly heard as [i, u] in stressed positions, in word-final positions or following glide sounds.
  • /u/ can be realized as [ɔ] when preceded or followed by a peripheral consonant. When preceding a palatal consonant, it is realized as a diphthong [ɔɪ].
  • /ɐ/ is often heard as [æ] when following a palatal consonant. When preceding a palatal consonant, it is realized as a diphthong [aɪ].

Grammar

The vocabulary is limited; therefore the relations and positioning of the words matter to make sense of the construction according to the situation. It is a polysynthetic language.

Marringarr also contains ergativity, which is marked by the postposition -ŋarrin.

Vocabulary

References

External links