Marrku–Wurrugu languages
Languages of the Northern Territory
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The Marrku–Wurrugu languages are a possible language family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in the Cobourg Peninsula region of Western Arnhem Land. They are the extinct Marrgu and Wurrugu languages.[1] They are sometimes classified as distant relatives of the Iwaidjan languages,[2] although Nicholas Evans found the evidence for Marrgu's membership insufficient, concluding that similarities were due to borrowing (including of verbal paradigms).[3]
Geographic
distributionCobourg Peninsula region and Croker Island, Northern Territory
distributionCobourg Peninsula region and Croker Island, Northern Territory
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families (Iwaidjan ?)
| Marrku–Wurrugu | |
|---|---|
| (proposed) | |
| Geographic distribution | Cobourg Peninsula region and Croker Island, Northern Territory |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families (Iwaidjan ?) |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | marr1257 |
The genetic grouping of Marrgu and Wurrugu is supported by the following observations:[1]
- Despite being geographically separated by the Garig-Ilgar languages, the two languages share a relatively high cognacy rate (15 out of 43 words = ~35%).
- Both languages contain an interdental phoneme [dh], which is absent in the surrounding Iwaidjan languages.
Vocabulary
Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[4]
gloss Mara Margu man gärijimar geiag woman girija njunɔn head maraŋuɽu waɽi eye maguɽ daːɭa nose djiɽi ɣïːni mouth ŋaːndal ŋaɽjad tongue djiːjil ŋaɽjad stomach gunjan ɣiwud bone ŋajigad aruwa blood ŋulidji didjaːridj kangaroo girmọ wïːdjud opossum gudjaɳi wiːɽiɽin emu djiwiɖiwiɖi mangunuba crow waŋganaŋi reimbiriri fly guɳɖil mɔlg sun gunaru muɽi moon waɖaŋari rana fire waɖgar djuːɳa smoke guŋoŋo ŋoɭan water ŋọgọ wobaidj