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Jarrakan languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jarragan
Jarrakan, Djeragan
Geographic
distribution
from Halls Creek to Wyndham and Kununurra along the Ord River in the eastern Kimberley region
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologjarr1235
Jarragan languages (purple), among other non-Pama-Nyungan languages (grey)
NotesSee Gija Dictionary (Kofod et al., 2022) for standard orthography.

The Jarragan (formerly, Jarrakan or Djeragan) languages are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Australia. The name is derived from the word jarrag, which means "language" in Kija.

The three main Jarragan languages are:

These are divided into two groups: Gijic, consisting of only Gija, and Miriwoongic, consisting of Miriwoong and Gajirrawoong; Dixon (2002) considers the latter to be a single language.

Doolboong may also have been a Jarragan language, but this is uncertain as it is extinct and essentially unattested.

Vocabulary

[edit]

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[2]

English GijaGuluwarinMiriwunGadjerong
man djiːlindjiɣilindjawalaŋdjɔːmaŋ
woman ŋaːlilŋaːlilgawilaŋgabilaŋ
head guŋgulïndumungaminduŋguɽunjuŋ
eye muːlumɔːlamɔːlmoːl
nose manilnjiganïnnjumburnjumbur
mouth ḏuwundïnḏuwundïnḏalalaḏabandaṉ
tongue ḏalalanḏalalanḏalalaḏalalaŋ
stomach djaːmdaɽwungaldjänraːriːŋ
bone gwïdjidaːlïnjaːriŋjaːriŋ
blood gjauəlïngjauldjigarŋanguŋulu
kangaroo djiːriṉdjiriṉdjiːriŋdjiːriŋ
opossum laŋguṉnaŋguṉgumanguman
emu wanjäbalmadjugulmadjuguŋ
crow waŋgaɳawɔŋgaralwaŋgariŋwaŋgadiŋ
fly buɳulwurŋälŋurinŋurin
sun baːndilbaːndilgaŋiriṉbaːndiṉ
moon gaɳgiṉgaɳgiṉgangiŋgaɳgiŋ
fire maɳiṉgidjauəlïngadjaːwilaŋmaːnuŋ
smoke wangiṉdulubgariḏuŋgiḏuŋgiṉ
water guːɭiṉgoːliṉgäluŋgaːbuŋ

References

[edit]
  1. "Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. Capell, Arthur. 1940. The Classification of Languages in North and North-West Australia. Oceania 10(3): 241-272, 404-433. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1940.tb00292.x
  • McGregor, William (2004). The Languages of the Kimberley, Western Australia. London, New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 40.