Gija language
{{Short description|Jarragan Aboriginal language of Western Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Gija
|altname = Kija
|region = From Halls Creek to Kununurra, Western Australia
|ethnicity = Gija
| speakers = 266
| date = 2021 census
|familycolor = Australian
|fam1 = Jarrakan
|script = Latin
|iso3 = gia
|glotto = kitj1240
|glottorefname = Kitja
|aiatsis = K20
|map2 = Lang Status 40-SE.svg
|mapcaption2 = {{center|{{small|Kija is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}
}}
Gija (variously spelled Kija, Kitja, Gidja{{Cite book |last=Kofod |first=Frances |title=Gija Dictionary |last2=Bray |first2=Eileen |last3=Peters |first3=Rusty |date= |publisher=Aboriginal Studies Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-922752-10-9 |edition=1st |location=Canberra}}) is an Australian Aboriginal language today spoken by about 200 people, most of whom live in the region from Halls Creek to Kununurra and west to Lansdowne and Tableland Stations in Western Australia. It is a member of the Jarragan language family, a non-Pama-Nyungan family in the East Kimberley. The Argyle Diamond Mine, on the south-western corner of Lake Argyle, is on the borders of Gija and Miriwoong country. The Purnululu National Park (Gija orthography: 'Boornoolooloo'), which contains the Bungle Bunglee Range, is located mostly in Gija country.
Kuluwarrang and Walgi may have been dialects.
Phonology
= Consonants =
| class="IPA wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" |Peripheral ! colspan="2" |Laminal ! colspan="2" |Apical |
| Labial |
|---|
| style="text-align: center;"
!Stop |p |k |t̪ |c |t |ʈ |
| style="text-align: center;"
|m |ŋ |n̪ |ɲ |n |ɳ |
| style="text-align: center;"
| | | |ʎ |l |ɭ |
| style="text-align: center;"
| | | | |r |ɻ |
| style="text-align: center;"
| colspan="2" |w | |j | | |
- Voiceless stops /p, k, t̪, c, t, ʈ/ can have voiced allophones [b, ɡ, d̪, ɟ, d, ɖ] when in intervocalic positions or when following nasals or liquid consonants. They can also be heard as unreleased when in word-final position.
- /p, k/ can also be heard as fricatives [β, ɣ] in intervocalic positions or when following liquid consonants.
- /t̪/ can freely be heard as an affricate [t̪θ] when in initial positions, and also be heard as either voiced fricative [ð] or affricate [d̪ð] sounds when in intervocalic positions.
- /t, ʈ/ can be heard as flap sounds [ɾ, ɽ] when in intervocalic positions.
- /r/ can have a voiced flap sound [ɾ] when in intervocalic positions. In word-final positions, it has a voiceless trill [r̥] allophone.
= Vowels =
See also
- Frances Kofod; Eileen Bray; Rusty Peters; Joe Blythe; Anna Crane et al. (2022). Gija Dictionary. 1st edn. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press. {{ISBN|9781922752109}}.
- {{cite Q|Q109466091}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book |last=Blythe |first=J. |title=Yuwurriyangem Kijam (our Language Kija): a Phrasebook of the Kija Language |location=Halls Creek |publisher=Kimberley Language Resource Centre}}
- {{cite book |last=Kofod |first=F. M. |year=1996 |title=Introduction to the Kija Language |location=Halls Creek |publisher=Kimberley Language Resource Centre}}
- {{cite book |last=Kofod |first=F. M. |year=2016 |title=Gija~Kija-English Dictionary |location=Warmin |publisher=Warmun Arts}}
- {{cite journal |last=Taylor |first=P. |author2=Taylor, J. |year=1971 |title=A tentative statement of Kitja phonology |journal=Papers on the Languages of Australian Aboriginals |pages=100–19}}
- {{cite journal |last=Taylor |first=P. |author2=Hudson, J. |year=1976 |title=Metamorphosis and Process in Kija |journal=Talanya |volume=3 |pages=25–36}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150529045334/http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/kija_gidja.pdf Bibliography of Kija people and language resources], at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
{{Australian Aboriginal languages}}
Category:Severely endangered languages
{{ia-lang-stub}}