Warrongo language
Warrongo | |
---|---|
Northern Maric | |
Native to | Australia |
Region | Queensland, west of Ingham and Abergowrie almost to Einasleigh |
Ethnicity | Warrongo, Gugu-Badhun, Gudjal |
Extinct | 1981 with the death of Alf Palmer |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:wrg – Warungugdc – Gugu-Badhun |
Glottolog | nort2757 |
AIATSIS[1] | Y133 Warungu, Y128 Gugu Badhun |
ELP |
Warrongo (or War(r)ungu) is an Australian Aboriginal language, one of the dozen languages of the Maric branch of the Pama–Nyungan family.[2] It was formerly spoken by the Warrongo people in the area around Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Its last native speaker was Alf Palmer, who died in 1981.[3]
Before his death, linguists Tasaku Tsunoda and Peter Sutton worked together with Palmer to preserve the language (Warrungu proper); thanks to their efforts, the language is beginning to be revived.[4]
One of the notable feature of the language is its
As noted by Ethnologue, the language is currently dormant meaning that there are no native/proficient speakers left.[2]
Alternative names for the language include Warrangu, Warrango, War(r)uŋu, War-oong-oo,[6] Gudjala and Gudjal.[2]
The
Sociolinguistic situation
Nowadays people identifying themselves as Warrongo live both within traditional Warrongo territory (Mount Garnet) and outside it (Palm Island, Townsville, Ingham, Cardwell, and Cairns).[8] The language has been extinct since the last speaker, Alf Palmer, died in 1981. In the late 1990s or early 2000s a language revival movement started by a community of people, most of them grandchildren of the last speakers, the central figure being Rachel Cummins, the granddaughter of Alf Palmer.[9][10] The community had contacted Tsunoda, the linguist who worked with the last speakers in the 1970s, and between 2002 and 2006 he conducted 5 sessions of lessons, of 4–5 days each. As a result, the language seems to have acquired a limited set of symbolic functions. It has begun to be used in teasing between children, and as a source of personal names.[11]
Classification
There appear to have been at least two mutually intelligible dialects.
Phonology
Consonants
bilabial
|
lamino-dental1 | apico-alveolar
|
retroflex
|
lamino-palatal
|
dorso-velar
| |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
stop
|
b ⟨b⟩ | ( d̪ ⟨dh⟩)
|
d ⟨d⟩
|
ɟ ⟨j⟩ | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | |
nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | ( n̪ ⟨nh⟩)
|
n ⟨n⟩
|
ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | ŋ ⟨ng⟩ | |
rhotic | ɾ ⟨rr⟩ | ɻ ⟨r⟩ | ||||
lateral | l ⟨l⟩
|
|||||
semivowel | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ |
- Only in Gugu-Badhun.
The sound [h] appears only in the interjection [hai] 'Hi!' and the exclamation of surprise [haha] (or [ha:ha:])
Vowels
There are three vowels: /a/, /i/ and /u/ (orthographically ⟨o⟩). Length is distinctive only for /a/, its long counterpart is orthographically represented as ⟨aa⟩. /u/ has two
Word classes
Warrongo is analysed as having five
Nominal morphology
Nouns generally do not distinguish number or gender, while pronouns have different forms for
Cases
Nouns have a single form, unmarked by a suffix, for the nominative case (used for the subject of an intransitive verb) and the accusative case (used for the object of a transitive verb), while the ergative case (used for the subject of a transitive verb) is marked by a suffix. In pronouns, on the other hand, the nominative and the ergative coincide in the bare stem form, while the accusative is marked by a suffix. Exceptionally, the third person dual and plural pronouns, as well as vowel-final proper and kin nouns, receive separate marking for each of these three cases. [25] The ergative, if used with inanimate nouns, may also mark an instrument.[26]
The
Genitive, ablative and comitative suffixes may be followed by other case suffixes.[28] Some adverbs can take case suffixes: locative (optionally for adverbs of place), dative (with the sense 'to', optionally for adverbs of place, obligatory for adverbs of time), or ablative (obligatory for both if the meaning is 'from, since').[29] Adverbs of manner cannot take case suffixes – this distinguishes them from nouns that express similar meanings (as these nouns must agree in case with the nouns they modify).[30]
Verbal morphology
Verbs belong to one of three
Syntax
Word order
Word order is free and does not seem to be governed by information structure. Constituents of a single phrase need not be contiguous.[34] There are however some tendencies. Numeral nouns usually follow the head noun, while adjective-like modifiers tend to precede it.[35] Arguments tend to precede verbs, while the agent-like argument of a transitive verb more often than not precedes the patient-like argument, although more frequently only one of them is expressed.[36]
Complex sentences and coreferentiality
The three most common means of joining clauses are sentence-sequence (juxtaposed clauses that have separate intonation contours),[37] coordination (juxtaposed clauses with one intonation contour and sharing of conjugational categories such as tense)[38] and subordination. The most common type of subordination is the purposive.
If there are shared arguments, they are more likely to be deleted from the second clause if it is subordinate, and least likely if it is sentence-sequence.
bama-nggo
man-ERG
warrngo
woman.ABS
mayga-n
tell-NF
yani-yal[41]
go-PURP
"The man told the woman to go." (main clause O coreferential with deleted S of the subordinate clause)
In case the shared argument is a transitive agent-like argument (A) in one of the clauses,
gorngga-do
husband-ERG
birgo
wife.ABS
mayga-n
tell-NF
wajo-gali-yal[43]
cook-ANTIP-PURP
"[The] husband told [his] wife to cook." (main clause O coreferential with A of subordinate clause, therefore antipassive is necessary)
References
- ^ Y133 Warungu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
- ^ a b c "Warungu". Ethnologue. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, preface.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. [page needed].
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 1.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 2.
- ^ State Library of Queensland.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 51.
- ^ Institute, Linguapax; Asia, Linguapax (2010). Linguapax Asia : a retrospective edition of language and human rights issues : collected proceedings of Linguapax Asia symposia 2004-2009. Linguapax Asia. p. 13.
- ^ Tsunoda & Tsunoda 2010, p. 13.
- ^ Tsunoda & Tsunoda 2010, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 3.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 8.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, pp. 7, 14.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 14.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 54.
- ^ Sutton 1973, p. 73.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 60.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 74.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 156.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 163.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 157.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, pp. 682–698.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, pp. 164–175.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 183.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 188.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 201.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 184.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 179.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 182.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 255.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 291.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 413.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 377.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 374.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 376.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 439.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 438.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 443.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 418, table 4-13.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 423.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 427.
- ^ Tsunoda 2011, p. 446.
Bibliography
- Dixon, RMW (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development.
- Sutton, Peter John (1973). Gugu-Badhun and its neighbours. pp. 73–74.
- Tsunoda, Tasaku (2002). "Language Revitalization: Revival of Warrungu (Australia) and Maintenance of Maori (New Zealand)".
- Tsunoda, Tasaku (2011). A Grammar of Warrongo. Mouton Grammar Library 53. Berlin ; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.
- Tsunoda, Tasaku; Tsunoda, Mie (2010). "The Revival Movement of the Warrongo Language of Northeast Australia". Linguapax Asia: A Retrospective Edition of Language and Human Rights Issues: Collected Proceedings of Linguapax Asia Symposia 2004–2009. Tokyo: Linguapax Asia.
- CC-BY-4.0 licensed text from: "Warungu". Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
External links
- Stories from Alf Palmer
- Bibliography of Gugu Badhun people and language resources, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- Warrungu (in Japanese)
- Warrungu Stories and Concordance (recorded sentences together with a transcription, an interlinear translation, and a smooth translation)
- A map of Australia showing where various languages, including Warrungu, are spoken
- World: Dying Words -- Linguists Express Concern Over Fate Of Endangered Languages (Part 1)