Nakkara (Na-kara) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Nagara people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Nakkara | |
---|---|
Region | Northern Territory |
Ethnicity | Nagara people |
Native speakers | 55 (2021 census)[1] |
Macro-Gunwinyguan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | nck |
Glottolog | naka1260 |
AIATSIS[2] | N80 |
ELP | Nakara |
It is also spelled Nakara or Nagara and also called Kokori.
Phonology
editConsonants
editBilabial | Apical | Laminal | Dorsal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | ||
Stop | b | d | ɖ | ɟ | g |
Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ |
Lateral | l | ɭ | |||
Rhotic | r/ɾ | ɽ | |||
Semivowel | w | j |
Stops have both voiced and voiceless allophones, depending on their position in the word. Furthermore, a stop length variation is present, which is only contrastive in morpheme-medial positions. This can be interpreted as either gemination, or as evidence for the existence of two separate stop series, with a suprasegmental hypothesis being mostly ruled out.
The tapped and trilled allophones of /r/ are in free variation.[3]
Vowels
editFront | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |
References
edit- ^ "SBS Australian Census Explorer". Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ N80 Nakkara at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ a b c Eather, Bronwyn (1990). A grammar of Nakkara (Central Arnhem Land Coast) (PhD thesis). Australian National University. doi:10.25911/5D723D207FDA3. hdl:1885/132899.