Marrgu (Marrku) is a recently extinct Aboriginal language of northern Australia. Additional names include Ajokoot, Croker Island, Raffles Bay, Terrutong (Terutong), Yaako (Jaako, Yako).[1]
| Marrgu | |
|---|---|
| Yaako | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Croker Island, Northern Territory |
| Ethnicity | Yaako |
| Extinct | 1 speaker reported in 2000;[1] 2 reported to partly understand it in 2008[2] |
Marrku–Wurrugu?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mhg |
| Glottolog | marg1251 |
| AIATSIS[2] | N45 |
| ELP | Marrgu |
 Marrgu language (purple arrow), among other non-Pama–Nyungan languages (grey) | |
.png) Closeup | |
Classification
editMarrgu had been assumed to be an Iwaidjan language like its neighbours. However, Evans (2006) has produced evidence that it was a language isolate,[2] with possible connection to the extinct and poorly attested Wurrugu. This connection however is merely theoretical.
Phonology
editConsonant inventory
edit| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
| Plosive | p | k | c | t̪ | t | ʈ |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n̪ | n | ɳ |
| Approximant | w | ɣ | j | ɻ | ||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Flap | ɽ | |||||
| Lateral | (ʎ) | l | ɭ | |||
| Lateral flap | ɺ ⟨ld⟩ | 𝼈 ⟨rld⟩ | ||||
Vowels
editMarrgu had the three-vowel (/a/, /i/, /u/) system typical of Iwaidjan languages (Evans 1998).
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Low | a | |
References
edit- ^ a b Marrgu language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c N45 Marrgu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Evans, Nicholas (1998). "Iwaidja mutation and its origins". In Anna Siewierska & Jae Jung Song. Case, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 115–149.