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Mpakwithi dialect

{{Short description|Extinct Australian Aboriginal dialect of Queensland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Mpakwithi

| altname = Anguthimri

| region = Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

| extinct = 1985

| ref = e25

| familycolor = Australian

| fam1 = Pama–Nyungan

| fam2 = Paman

| fam3 = North Cape York

| fam4 = Northern

| fam5 = Anguthimri

| iso3 = awg

| aiatsis = Y186

| glotto = angu1242

| glottorefname = Anguthimri

| notice = IPA

| states = Australia

}}

Mpakwithi is an extinct Australian Aboriginal dialect of Queensland.

Classification

Mpakwithi is generally regarded as a dialect of a broader Anguthimri language, which is part of the Northern Paman family.

Phonology

=Vowels=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!

! Front

! Back

Close

| {{IPAlink|i}} {{IPAlink|iː}} {{IPAlink|ĩ}} {{IPAlink|y}}

| {{IPAlink|u}} {{IPAlink|uː}}

Close-mid

| {{IPAlink|e}} {{IPAlink|eː}} {{IPAlink|ẽ}} ({{IPAlink|ø}})

| {{IPAlink|o}}

Open-mid

| {{IPAlink|æ}} {{IPAlink|æː}} {{IPAlink|æ̃}}

|

Low

|colspan="2"| {{IPAlink|a}} {{IPAlink|aː}} {{IPAlink|ã}}

{{IPAslink|ø}} is found in only one word.

Mpakwithi has the most vowels of any Australian language, with 16–17. It also is the only Australian language to have nasal vowels.

=Consonants=

While other Anguthimri dialects and Northern Paman languages have three fricatives, {{IPA|/β ð ɣ/}}, Mpakwithi has a fourth, {{IPA|/ʒ/}}. Its origin is uncertain. This is an extremely rare sound in Australian languages.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! colspan="2" |Peripheral

! colspan="2" |Laminal

! colspan="2" |Apical

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

Bilabial

!Velar

!Palatal

!Dental

!Alveolar/
Retroflex

!Post-
alveolar

rowspan="2" |Plosives

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|p}}

|{{IPAlink|k}}

|{{IPAlink|c}}

|{{IPAlink|t̪}}

|{{IPAlink|t}}

|{{IPA|t̠ʳ}}

|{{IPAlink|ʔ}}

prenasal

|{{IPAlink|ᵐb}}

|{{IPAlink|ᵑɡ}}

|{{IPAlink|ᶮɟ}}

|{{IPAlink|ⁿ̪d̪}}

|{{IPAlink|ⁿd}}

|{{IPA|ⁿd̠ʳ}}

|

rowspan="2" |Fricatives

!voiced

|{{IPAlink|β}}

|{{IPAlink|ɣ}}

|{{IPAlink|ʒ}}

|{{IPAlink|ð}}

|

|

|

voiceless

|

|

|({{IPAlink|ʃ}})

|

|({{IPAlink|s}})

|

|

colspan="2" |Nasals

|{{IPAlink|m}}

|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}

|{{IPAlink|n̪}}

|{{IPAlink|n}}

|

|

colspan="2" |Rhotics

| colspan="2" |

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ɻ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɾ}}

|

colspan="2" |Approximants

| colspan="2" |{{IPAlink|w}}

|{{IPAlink|j}}

|

|{{IPAlink|l}}

|

|

The flap /ɾ/ may occasionally also be heard as a trill [r].

Sounds [s, ʃ] may also occur, but only rarely and in a small amount of words. The phonemic status is uncertain.

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{cite book |last=Crowley |first=T. |year=1981 |chapter=The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri |editor=Dixon, R. M. W. |editor2=Blake, B. J. |title=Handbook of Australian Languages |others=Vol 2 |pages=146–194 |location=Canberra and Amsterdam |publisher=Australian National University Press and John Benjamins}}
  • {{cite book |last=Dixon |first=R. M. W. |authorlink=R. M. W. Dixon |year=2002 |title=Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521473780}}

Category:Northern Paman languages

{{Pama–Nyungan languages|Paman}}{{ia-lang-stub}}