Mangarrayi language

Mangarrayi (Manggarrai, Mungerry, Ngarrabadji) is an Australian language spoken in the Northern Territory. Its classification is uncertain. Margaret Sharpe originally sought to record the language but turned to the study of Alawa after the station owner where her informants lived denied her access, having tired of the presence of researchers on the property.^[3]

Speakers

The 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics official census indicates that there are no speakers of Mangarrayi remaining, however elders Sheila Conway and Jessie Roberts are both speakers of Mangarrayi.^[4] Conway continues to make an important contribution to language revitalization projects in the Jilkminggan community.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Vowels /i, u, e, o/ can have lax allophones of [ɪ, ʊ, ɛ, o̞].^[5]

Numeric system

Mangarrayi has a number system that extends only to three.

Vocabulary

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Mungarai (Mangarayi):^[6]

gloss	Mungarai
man	malaṉ
woman	gaɖugu
head	gaia
eye	djib
nose	miliŋ
mouth	djäɽäb
tongue	djawi
stomach	daɽa
bone	dama
blood	guranjin
kangaroo	garawi
opossum	widjwidj
crow	wagwag
fly	mɔːdj
sun	ganjwar
moon	giidj
fire	damaia
smoke	gunburau
water	ŋogo

Notes and references

Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:North Australian word lists

1. ^ ABS. "Census 2016, Language spoken at home by Sex (SA2+)". stat.data.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
2. ^ N78 Mangarrayi at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
3. ^ Sharpe 2008, p. 61,n.2.
4. ^ Big river country : stories from Elsey Station. Dirngayg, Amy., Merlan, Francesca. Alice Springs, NT: IAD Press. 1996. ISBN 9780949659927. OCLC 36270843.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
5. ^ Merlan, Francesca (1989). Mangarayi. Routledge: London: Routledge.
6. ^ Capell, Arthur. 1940. The Classification of Languages in North and North-West Australia. Oceania 10(3): 241-272, 404-433. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1940.tb00292.x

• Sharpe, Margaret (2008). "Alawa and its Neighbours: Enigma Variations 1 and 2". In Bowern, Claire; Evans, Bethwyn; Miceli, Luisa (eds.). Morphology and Language History: In Honour of Harold Koch. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 59–70. ISBN 978-9-027-24814-5.
• Bernard Comrie. 2013. Numeral Bases. In: Dryer, Matthew S. & Haspelmath, Martin (eds.) The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. (Available online at http://wals.info/chapter/131, Accessed on 2017-04-27.)
• Jessie Garalnganyjak Roberts et al., 2011, Mangarrayi and Yangman plants and animals : Aboriginal biocultural knowledge from Elsey and the Roper River, north Australia, Darwin : Dept. of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport : Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corp./Mimi Aboriginal Art & Craft
• Merlan, F., 1982, Mangarayi, Lingua Descriptive Series, vol. 4, Amsterdam