Wemba Wemba language
{{short description|Extinct Australian Aboriginal language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{use Australian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Wemba-Wemba
|nativename=Eastern Central Murray
|region=Victoria
|familycolor=Australian
|fam1=Pama–Nyungan
|fam2=Kulinic
|fam3=Kulin
|ethnicity=Wemba-Wemba, Nari-Nari, Barababaraba, Wergaia, Wotjobaluk, Marditjali, ?Jardwadjali
|extinct=?
|dia1=Nari Nari
|dia2=Barababaraba
|dia3=Wergaia (incl. Wotjobaluk)
|dia4=? Jardwadjali
|iso3=xww
|lc1=rnr |ld1=Nari-Nari
|lc2=rbp |ld2=Barababaraba
|lc3=weg |ld3=Wergaia
|lc4=xwt |ld4=Wotjobaluk
|glotto=west2443
|glottoname=incl. Madhi–Ladji–Wadi
|glottorefname=Western Victoria [Kulin]
|aiatsis = D1
|ELP2=6709
|ELPname2=Nari Nari
}}
The Wemba Wemba language is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language once spoken along the Murray River and its tributaries in North Western Victoria and South Central New South Wales.
Nari Nari, a dialect of Wemba Wemba, is {{as of|2020|lc=yes}} part of a language revival project. Other dialects are Barababaraba and Wergaia.
Jardwadjali (with dialects Jagwadjali, Nundadjali, Mardidjali) may be Wemba-Wemba,R. M. W. Dixon, Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development: v. 1 (Cambridge Language Surveys). Cambridge University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-521-47378-1}} or may be closer to the Madhi–Ladji–Wadi varieties.
Phonology
= Consonants =
= Vowels =
| class="wikitable"
! !Back |
| align="center"
|ɪ, i | |ʊ, u |
| align="center"
!Mid |ɛ, e |ə |ɔ, o |
| align="center"
!Open | |a | |
Voiced consonant sounds only occur within prenasalized stops. Prenasal consonants include: /mb/ /nd/ /ndy/ /ng/ and /rnd/. In phonetic form they are pronounced as [mb] [nd] [ɲɟ] [ŋɡ] and [ɳɖ].{{Cite book|title=Wembawemba Dictionary|last=Hercus|first=Luise A.|year=1992}}
Vocabulary
Below is a basic vocabulary list from Blake (1981).{{cite book |last=Blake |first=Barry J. |author-link=Barry Blake |title=Australian Aboriginal languages: a general introduction |publisher=Angus & Robertson Publishers |publication-place=London |date=1981 |isbn=0-207-14044-8}}
:
| class="wikitable sortable"
! English !! Wemba-Wemba | |
| man | beng |
| woman | lerg |
| mother | guinggurin |
| father | mam |
| head | murreng |
| eye | mir |
| nose | ganyug |
| ear | wirimbula |
| mouth | dyarb |
| tongue | dyaling |
| tooth | lia |
| hand | manye |
| breast | gurm |
| stomach | bili |
| urine | gir |
| faeces | guni |
| thigh | gareburdug |
| foot | dyine |
| bone | merderug |
| blood | gurg |
| dog | wilgar |
| snake | gurnwil |
| kangaroo | gure (grey), bara (red) |
| possum | wile |
| fish | yauwirr |
| spider | wirimbeliny |
| mosquito | liri |
| emu | dyurung-wil |
| eaglehawk | banggel |
| crow | wa |
| sun | nyaui |
| star | durd |
| stone | la |
| water | gaden |
| camp | lar |
| fire | wanab |
| smoke | burd |
| meat | benggug |
| stand | dyerriga |
| sit | nyengga |
| see | nyaga |
| go | yangga |
| get | garga |
| hit | daga (barrangguna 'kill') |
| I | yandang |
| you | ngin |
| one | gebin |
| two | buledya |
Influence on English
At least four botanical terms in Australian English are thought to have been introduced into local speech from Wemba-Wemba:
- {{Lang|xww|dilanj}} = nitre bush/dillon
- {{Lang|xww|lerep}} = lerp/honeydew or lerp manna{{cite book | last=Clarke | first=Philip A. | title=Aboriginal Plant Collectors: Botanists and Australian Aboriginal People in the Nineteenth Century | publisher=Rosenberg | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-877058-68-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Usav1CwZaXEC&pg=PA52 | access-date=25 May 2021 | page=52}}
- {{Lang|xww|gambang}} = bulrush/cumbungi
- {{Lang|xww|mali}} = mallee
- The word yabby, a type of crayfish, comes from Wemba-Wemba.Oxford Dictionary of English, p 2,054.
Language revival
{{as of|2020}}, the Nari Nari dialect{{cite web|url=https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/d9|website=Austlang|publisher=AIATSIS|title=D9: Nari Nari|date=26 July 2019 |access-date=14 January 2020}} is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages—those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".{{cite web|website=First Languages Australia|url=https://www.firstlanguages.org.au/projects/plsp|title=Priority Languages Support Project|access-date=14 January 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.omniglot.com/writing/wembawemba.htm Wemba Wemba language]
{{Pama–Nyungan languages|South}}
Category:Extinct languages of Victoria (state)
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