kids encyclopedia robot

Marrku–Wurrugu languages facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Marrku–Wurrugu
Geographic
distribution:
Cobourg Peninsula region and Croker Island, Northern Territory
Linguistic classification: no demonstrable relatives
Subdivisions:

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 Marrgu, with one remaining speaker as of 2011, and the extinct Wurrugu. They were once classified as distant relatives of the other Iwaidjan languages, until Nicholas Evans found the evidence for Marrgu's membership insufficient, concluding that similarities were due to borrowing (including of verbal paradigms).

The genetic grouping of Marrgu and Wurrugu is supported by the following observations:

  • 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:

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
kids search engine
Marrku–Wurrugu languages Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.