// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Wemba Wemba say to the wall? You're always speaking over me.
(Redirected from Wembawemba language)
| Wemba-Wemba | |
|---|---|
| Region | Victoria |
| Ethnicity | Wemba-Wemba |
| Extinct | (date missing)[1] |
Pama–Nyungan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xww |
| Glottolog | wemb1241 |
| AIATSIS[2] | D1 |
| ELP | Wemba-Wemba |
Wemba Wemba 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.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Retroflex | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p | t̪ | t | c | ʈ | k |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ɳ | ŋ | |
| Lateral | l | ɭ | ||||
| Rhotic | r | ɽ | ||||
| Approximant | w | j |
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | ɪ, i | ʊ, u | |
| Mid | ɛ, e | ə | ɔ, o |
| 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].[3]
Vocabulary
[edit]Below is a basic vocabulary list from Blake (1981).[4]
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
[edit]At least four botanical terms in Australian English are thought to have been introduced into local speech from Wemba-Wemba:
- dilanj = nitre bush/dillon
- lerep = lerp/honeydew or lerp manna[5]
- gambang = bulrush/cumbungi[5]
- mali = mallee[5]
- The word yabby, a type of crayfish, comes from Wemba-Wemba.[6]
References
[edit]- ↑ "D1: Wemba Wemba". Austlang. AIATSIS. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ↑ D1 Wemba-Wemba at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ↑ Hercus, Luise A. (1992). Wembawemba Dictionary.
- ↑ Blake, Barry J. (1981). Australian Aboriginal languages: a general introduction. London: Angus & Robertson Publishers. ISBN 0-207-14044-8.
- 1 2 3 Clarke, Philip A. (2008). Aboriginal Plant Collectors: Botanists and Australian Aboriginal People in the Nineteenth Century. Rosenberg. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-877058-68-4. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- ↑ Oxford Dictionary of English, p 2,054.
External links
[edit]| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
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