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Nukunu language

{{short description|Australian Aboriginal language}}

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

{{Infobox language

| name = Nukunu

| nativename =

| region = South Australia

| ethnicity = Nukunu

| extinct = {{circa|2000}}

| familycolor = Australian

| fam1 = Pama–Nyungan

| fam2 = Thura-Yura

| fam3 = (unclassified)

| iso3 = nnv

| glotto = nugu1241

| glottorefname = Nugunu (Australia)

| script = Latin

| notice = IPA

| aiatsis = L4

| revived = 11-50 (2019)

| states = Australia

}}

Nukunu (or Nugunu or many other names: see below) is a moribund Australian Aboriginal language spoken by Nukunu people on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. As of 2017, there is a revival and maintenance programme under way for the language.{{cite book|title=Colonialism and its aftermath: A history of Aboriginal South Australia|editor1-last=Brock|editor1-first=Peggy|editor2-first=Tom|editor2-last=Gara|chapter=1. Structures of Aboriginal life at the time of colonisation in South Australia|first=Paul|last=Monaghan|page=17|publisher=Wakefield|date=2017|isbn=9781743054994|url=https://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/files/extracts/Colonialism_and_its_Aftermath_extract.pdf|others=Extract, pp.i-xxiii}}

Names

This language has been known by many names by neighbouring tribes and Australianists, including:

  • Nukuna, Nokunna, Noocoona, Nookoona, Nuguna, Nukana, Nukunnu, Nukunu, Njuguna
  • Doora
  • Pukunna
  • Tjura, Tyura
  • Wallaroo, Warra
  • Wongaidya (from {{lang|nnv|wangkatya}}, present tense form of verb 'to speak')

Classification

File:Wirangu Map.jpgs of South Australia]]Nukunu is a Pama–Nyungan language, closely related to neighboring languages in the Miru clusterHercus pp. 1; Schmidt called this cluster (a subgroup of Thura–Yura) as "Miru" in 1919. Perhaps these languages are part of the Kadli group as well. like Narungga, Kaurna, and Ngadjuri.

Phonology

=Vowels=

Nukunu has three different vowels with contrastive long and short lengths (a, i, u, a:, i:, u:).

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

!

! Front

! Back

High

| {{IPA|i iː}}

| {{IPA|u uː}}

Low

|colspan=2| {{IPA|a aː}}

=Consonants=

The Nukunu consonantal inventory is typical for a Pama–Nyungan language, with six places of articulation for stops and nasals. There are three rhotics in the language.

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

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

!colspan="2"| Peripheral

!colspan="2"| Laminal

!colspan="2"| Apical

Labial

! Velar

! Dental

! Palatal

! Alveolar

! Retroflex

rowspan="2"| Stop

! Voiceless

| {{IPA|p}}

| {{IPA|k}}

| {{IPA|t̪}}

| {{IPA|c}}

| {{IPA|t}}

| {{IPA|ʈ}}

Voiced

|

|

|

|

|

| {{IPA|(ɖ)}}

colspan="2"| Nasal

| {{IPA|m}}

| {{IPA|ŋ}}

| {{IPA|n̪}}

| {{IPA|ɲ}}

| {{IPA|n}}

| {{IPA|ɳ}}

colspan="2"| Lateral

|

|

| {{IPA|l̪}}

| {{IPA|ʎ}}

| {{IPA|l}}

| {{IPA|ɭ}}

colspan="2"| Tap

|

|

|

|

| {{IPA|ɾ}}

|

colspan="2"| Trill

|

|

|

|

| {{IPA|r}}

|

colspan="2"| Approximant

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

|

| {{IPA|j}}

|

| {{IPA|ɻ}}

A phonemic voicing contrast exists in Nukunu, but it has only been observed in the retroflex stop series. An example demonstrating such a contrast intervocalically is kurdi (phlegm, IPA ['kuɖi]) and kurti (quandong, IPA ['kuʈi]).

=History=

In contrast with other Thura–Yura languages, Nukunu did not partake in either the initial th- lenition before vowels or the lenition of initial k- before vowels.

Notes

References

  • {{cite book|author=Hercus, Luise Anna |year=1992 |chapter=Introduction |title=A Nukunu Dictionary|location=Maitland, South Australia|publisher=National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry}}

{{Pama–Nyungan languages|South}}

Category:Thura-Yura languages

{{ia-lang-stub}}