Worrorra language
| Worrorra | |
|---|---|
 Worrorran languages (purple), among other non-Pama-Nyungan languages (grey) | |
| Region | Western Australia |
| Ethnicity | Worrorra,Unggumi,Yawijibaya,Unggarranggu,Umiida |
Native speakers | 8 (2021 census)[1] |
Wororan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Worora Kinship Sign Language | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:wro– Worrorraxgu– Unggumixud– Umiidaxun– Unggarranggujbw– Yawijibaya |
| Glottolog | west2435 |
| AIATSIS[3] | K17Worrorra,K14Unggumi,K49Umiida,K55Unggarrangu,K53Yawijibaya |
| ELP | Worrorra |
 Worrorran languages | |
Worrorra,also writtenWororaand other variants, and also known asWestern Worrorran,is amoribundAustralian Aboriginal languageof northernWestern Australia.It encompasses a number of dialects, which are spoken by a group of people known as theWorrorrapeople.
It is one of a group ofWorrorran languages,the other two beingWunambalandNgarinyin.
Dialects of (western) Worrorra
[edit]Worrorra is adialect cluster;Bowern (2011) recognises five languages: Worrorra proper,Unggumi,Yawijibaya,Unggarranggu,andUmiida.[4]McGregor and Rumsey (2009) include the above dialects and also includeWinyjarrumi(Winjarumi), describing Worrorra as a non-Pama-Nyungan languageof the Worrorran group of languages known properly as western Worrorran.[3]
Umiida,Unggarrangu,Unggumi,andYawijibayapeoples are described in separate articles.
An allegedMaialngalanguage was a reported clan name of Worrorra proper that could not be confirmed with speakers.[5]
Notable people
[edit]Elkin Umbagaiwas a translator between English and Worrorra.[6]
Phonology
[edit]| Bilabial | Inter- dental |
Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p | t̪ | t | ʈ | c | k |
| Nasal | m | n̪ | n | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ |
| Rhotic | ɾ~r | |||||
| Lateral | l | ɭ | ʎ | |||
| Approximant | w | ɻ | j |
- A nasal occurring before a stop consonant, is then realised as a prenasalized voiced stop sound (ex. [ŋɡ]).
- /r/ can be heard as a trill or a flap, and is typically only voiced when preceding a sonorant, voiced phoneme, or lateral consonant. Elsewhere, it is voiceless as[r̥],or can be heard in free variation.
- /j/ can also be heard as a fricative sound[ç]in word-initial positions.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
- Long vowel sounds are noted as follows: /iː, ɛː, uː, ɔː, ɑː/.
- In between consonant clusters, an epenthetic vowel sound[ʉ̆]~[ɨ̆]occurs when breaking them up. Sometimes it can also be heard as a central vowel sound[ɨ].[8]
| Phoneme | Allophones[8] |
|---|---|
| /i/ | [i],[ɪ] |
| /a/ | [a],[ɒ],[æ],[ɛ̞],[ɑ],[ɐ] |
| /u/ | [u],[y],[ʊ] |
| /iː/ | [iː],[ɪː] |
| /ɛː/ | [eɪ],[ɛː]~[eː] |
| /ɑː/ | [ɑˑɪ],[ɑ] |
| /ɔː/ | [oʊ],[ɔː]~[ɒː] |
| /uː/ | [uː],[ʊː] |
Sign language
[edit]The Worora have (or at one point had) asigned formof their language, used for speaking to kin in certaintaboo relationships,[9]but it is not clear from records that it was particularly well developed compared to otherAustralian Aboriginal sign languages.[10]
References
[edit]- ^Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021)."Cultural diversity: Census".Retrieved13 October2022.
- ^Clendon (1994, 2000), Love (2000), cited in Dixon 2002
- ^abK17Worrorra at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database,Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies(see the info box for additional links)
- ^Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?Archived2012-08-15 at theWayback Machine",Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web,December 23, 2011 (correctedArchived2012-07-03 at theWayback MachineFebruary 6, 2012)
- ^Tindale, Norman B. (Norman Barnett); Jones, Rhys (1974),Aboriginal tribes of Australia: their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits, and proper names,University of California Press; Canberra: Australian National University Press,ISBN978-0-520-02005-4
- ^Valda J. Blundell and Mary Anne Jebb."Umbagai, Elkin (1921–1980)".Australian Dictionary of Biography.Retrieved4 November2013.
- ^abCapell, Arthur; Coate, Howard H. J. (1984).Comparative studies in Northern Kimberley languages.Pacific Linguistics Series C. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.ISBN0-85883-314-X.
- ^abcClendon, Mark (2014).Worrorra: A language of the north-west Kimberley coast.Adelaide: University of Adelaide. pp. 24–39.
- ^Love, J.R.B. (1941).Worora kinship gestures,Reprinted inAboriginal sign languages of the Americas and Australia.New York: Plenum Press, 1978, vol. 2, pp. 403–405.
- ^Kendon, A.(1988)Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives.Cambridge:Cambridge UniversityPress