Marrgu language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Marrgu |
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| Yaako | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Croker Island, Northern Territory |
| Ethnicity | Yaako |
| Extinct | 1 speaker reported in 2000; 2 reported to partly understand it in 2008aiatsis |
| Language family |
Marrku–Wurrugu?
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| AIATSIS | N45 |
Marrgu language (purple arrow), among other non-Pama–Nyungan languages (grey)
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Marrgu (also called Marrku) was an Aboriginal language from northern Australia. Sadly, it is now extinct. This means no one speaks it as their first language anymore.
People spoke Marrgu near Croker Island and Raffles Bay in the Northern Territory. Other names for this language included Ajokoot, Terrutong, and Yaako.
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What is the Marrgu Language?
Marrgu was a unique language spoken by the Yaako people. It is important to learn about languages like Marrgu. They help us understand the history and culture of different groups.
Marrgu's Language Family
For a long time, people thought Marrgu belonged to the Iwaidjan language family. A language family is a group of languages that came from a common ancestor. Think of it like a family tree for languages!
However, in 2006, a language expert named Nicholas Evans found something different. He suggested that Marrgu might be a language isolate. This means it doesn't clearly belong to any known language family. It's like a language that stands on its own.
There might be a small chance it was connected to another extinct language called Wurrugu. But this idea is still being studied.
How Did Marrgu Sound?
The sounds of a language are called its phonology. Marrgu had a special set of sounds.
Marrgu Consonants
Marrgu had many different consonant sounds. These are sounds like 'p', 'k', 'm', and 'n'. Some of its sounds were similar to English. Others were quite different.
For example, it had sounds made with the tip of the tongue curled back. These are called retroflex sounds. It also had different 'l' sounds, like the 'l' in "light" and another one made by tapping the tongue.
Marrgu Vowels
Like many Iwaidjan languages, Marrgu had only three main vowel sounds. These were the sounds like 'a' (as in "father"), 'i' (as in "machine"), and 'u' (as in "flute").
