Nyulnyulan languages facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nyulnyulan
Geographic distribution:	along Fitzroy River, Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region
Linguistic classification:	One of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions:	Eastern Western
Nyulnyulan languages (purple), among other non-Pama-Nyungan languages (grey)

The Nyulnyulan languages are a small family of closely related Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Western Australia. Most languages in this family are extinct, with only three extant languages, all of which are almost extinct.

Internal classification

The languages form two branches established on the basis of lexical and morphological innovation.

• Western or Nyulnyulic:

Nyulnyul †

Bardi

Jawi

Djabirr-Djabirr †

Nimanburru †

• Eastern or Dyukun:

Yawuru

Dyugun †

Warrwa †

Nyigina

Ngumbarl †

Vocabulary

Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Nyulnyulan languages:

gloss	Bard	Njulnjul	Jauor	Njigina	Warrwa
man	aːmba	waːmb	waːmba	waːmba	waːmba
woman	ɔranj	worinj	djando	djando	djando
head	nalm	nalm	maru	maru	ŋalma
eye	nem	nem	bani	nimelgar	nimelgar
nose	nimäl	nimäl	? nimäl	ŋunidjina	ŋunidjina
mouth	niler	niler	djawa	niler	niler
tongue	neaŋal	neaŋal	djälän	djälän	djälän
stomach	noŋ	noŋ	ŋalu	nuŋu	noŋ
bone	gɛndj	gɛndj	gändji	gändji	gändji
blood	welgar	welgar	gunbulu	gunbulu	gunbulu
kangaroo	buru	bardjani, burug	bardjanan	bardjani	bardjani
opossum	läŋgur	läŋgur	goiɛ	läŋgur	guɳɖuman
emu	inini	winin	ganaŋandja	ganaŋandja	ganaŋandja
crow	waŋgede	waŋged	djawari	waŋgaɳa	waŋgide
fly	mogonj	mogonj	bɛːrambin	waɳmin	waɳmin
sun	alg	waːlg	waːlga	baɽa	waːlga
moon	gunjul	gunjul	giliban	gilinman, giridin	giliman, giridin
fire	djuŋgu	djuŋgu	djuŋgu	djuŋgu	djuŋgu
smoke	gungud	gungud	ŋuɽun	duwi	duwi
water	wol, uŋgur	wol, wuŋgur	wula	wela	wela

Lexical isoglosses

Some lexical isoglosses between Proto-Western Nyulnyulan and Proto-Eastern Nyulnyulan:

gloss	Proto-Western Nyulnyulan	Proto-Eastern Nyulnyulan
rotten	*biini	*mandu
leaf	*bilibil	*wirrkiny
bush country	*bindan	*birra
kangaroo	*burruk	*barrjaniny
tree, stick	*bardangk	*baalu
arrive, come	*darr	*-bula
yes	*iyi	*ngawayi
later, soon	*karrm	*wanyji
egg	*lakurr	*kambiy
good	*layib	*maabu
nose	*-mal	*nguni
seek	*-mi	*-murungu
knowledgeable	*-mungk	*nila
small	*murrul	*wuba
mud	*ngijil	*jabula ~ *jakula
sister	*marrir	*ngunu
forehead	*-nkarra	*jirrbal
thigh	*-nmurr	*balngany
tail	*-warla	*makarra
woman	*wurany	*jarndu

Proto-languages

Proto-Nyulnyulan

The following reconstruction of Proto-Nyulnyulan is from Stokes and McGregor (2003):

Abbreviations

• WNN: Western Nyulnyulan
• ENN: Eastern Nyulnyulan

no.	gloss	Proto-Nyulnyulan
1.	and	*a
2.	head	*-alma
3.	child	*baaba
4.	scorpion	*baarn
5.	deaf (ENN forget)	*bab
6.	brother (older) (B+)	*babala
7.	paperbark coolamon	*bakarl
8.	when	*bana
9.	feather (ENN bird)	*bandal
10.	carpet snake	*baninyburu
11.	smell	*-banyju
12.	poison for stunning fish	*banyjud
13.	east	*banu
14.	full up	*-bardika
15.	cover over, extinguish	**-barnd
16.	goanna	*barni
17.	exchange, reflexive/reciprocal IV	*-barnj
18.	think	*-barribarri
19.	wallaby	*barrjaniny
20.	cold season, winter	*barrkana
21.	turkey, bustard	*barrkar
22.	catfish	*barulu
23.	behind	*baybirr
24.	shade	*biika
25.	twinkle, twitch	*bilbil
26.	aggressive, wild, angry, fight	*bili
27.	soul, spirit	*bilyurr
28.	butterfly, moth	*bindabinda
29.	long pearlshell pendant	*binyjabinyja
30.	bark coolamon	*binyjin
31.	spring	*birlarr
32.	hit, kill	*-bu
33.	flower	*bubu
34.	nape of neck	*buda
35.	dream, dreamtime	*bukarri
36.	middle, in between, on the way	*bulngurru
37.	tired, exhausted	*bulyji
38.	bite	*-bundarr(a)
39.	excrement	*burda
40.	dance	*burrb
41.	string	*burrurr
42.	camp, place, country	*buru
43.	blow	*buu
44.	ant species	*buya
45.	hammer	*da
46.	deaf	*dakidaki
47.	chin, lower jaw	*dangku
48.	turn	*dibirr
49.	kidney	*dilba
50.	fly	*dumbarra
51.	drink	*-(i)bi
52.	ask	*-jabala
53.	see	*-jala
54.	pelican	*jalinymarr
55.	fall	*-jalku
56.	magic power, healing potential	*jalngka
57.	doctor (medicine man)	*jalngkangurru
58.	cousin	*jalwal
59.	mother’s father (MF)	*jam
60.	axe	*jamiyunu
61.	wife’s father (WF)	*jamunyarri
62.	where	*jana
63.	tread, step, trample	*-janbu
64.	calf	*jangkala
65.	break	*-jangkulu
66.	split	*ja(r)l
67.	harmonic generation	*jarndu
68.	lift up, carry	*jarrbard
69.	tooth	*jarringk
70.	say, do	*-ji ~ *-di
71.	downwards	*jidlarra
72.	boomerang	*jiiba
73.	down, below, inside	*jimbin
74.	spear type	*jinal
75.	shooting star	*jirirr
76.	sing	*jirrmu
77.	corpse	*jiwarri
78.	tell	*-julnga
79.	fire	*jungku
80.	suck	*juny
81.	run	*jurnk
82.	downwards	*jurr
83.	snake	*jurru
84.	pour out	*jur(r)urr
85.	carry	*-ka
86.	bone	*kaanyji
87.	father’s mother	*kabali
88.	liver (ENN, except Jk guts)	*kabir
89.	ashes (cold)	*kajurd
90.	lose, drop	*-kalbarr
91.	up, above	*kalbu
92.	already, finished	*kaliya
93.	father’s father (FF)	*kalurd
94.	mother’s mother (MM)	*kamirda
95.	murderer, ritual killer	*kanarbin
96.	become fat/well nourished	*-kanb
97.	laugh	*-ka(n)ma
98.	spit, saliva	*kararr
99.	enter, go in	*-kard
100.	clapsticks	*karn-
101.	kangaroo species, large	*karrabulu
102.	shield	*karrbina
103.	call out	*kawu
104.	choke, strangle	*kiny
105.	this, he, she, it	*kinya
106.	brolga	*kudarrawany
107.	two	*kujarra
108.	west	*kularr
109.	frill-necked lizard	*kulamana
110.	sleep	*kulin
111.	yellow	*kumbarri
112.	blood	*kunbulu
113.	carry on shoulder, shoulder	*kundi
114.	brain, spinal marrow	*kunykuny
115.	saltwater turtle	*kurlibil
116.	dingo	*kurridi
117.	sky	*kurrwal
118.	blood	*kururr
119.	pearlshell	*kuwan
120.	ear	*-lababa
121.	climb	*lakal
122.	hear	*-lakarra
123.	dry	*lalka
124.	ear passage	*-lamarr
125.	throat, neck	*langan
126.	know, understand, recognise	*-langka
127.	possum	*langkurr
128.	steal, abduct	*lanyb
129.	fat, grease	*layda
130.	sour taste	*limba
131.	sour taste	*linyju
132.	saltwater crocodile	*linykurra
133.	mouth	*-lirr
134.	heart, emotion	*liyan
135.	blue-tongue lizard	*lungkura
136.	bum	*-lurru
137.	put	*-ma
138.	afternoon	*majal
139.	path, road	*makirr
140.	bag, coolamon	*malbulu
141.	nose	*-mal(ul)
142.	shadow, reflected image	*-mandarr
143.	bustard, scrub turkey	*mangkayarra
144.	throat	*-manya
145.	arm, hand	*-marla
146.	hungry	*marr-
147.	bum	*-marra
148.	shadow, reflection	*-marraj
149.	head	*marru
150.	vegetable food	*mayi
151.	armpit	*-mbarrma
152.	foot	*-mbala
153.	male of species	*mida
154.	shin, knee	*-midi
155.	lie, untruth	*miila
156.	be sitting down	*mijala
157.	arise, get up, wake up	*-milka
158.	stick implement	*milkin
159.	ankle, joint	*mil(y)ku
160.	grandparent/grandchild (diminutive)	*mimi
161.	eye	*-miny
162.	only	*minyjan
163.	club, nulla nulla	*nawurla
164.	devil, bad spirit	*ngaarri
165.	woomera	*ngabaliny
166.	spongy, hollow	*ngak
167.	cry	*-ngalka
168.	breast	*ngamarna
169.	language, speech, speak	*nganka
170.	interrogative particle	*nganyji
171.	leave	*-ngarl
172.	night?	*ngimbirr
173.	belly	*-ngu
174.	alone, by oneself	*ngudirr
175.	throw	*-ngula
176.	beard (WNN feelers of catfish)	*ngul(y)ku
177.	ashes	*ngurlun
178.	piss, urine	*ngurndu
179.	night	*ngurra
180.	be, sit	*-ni ~ *-nga
181.	sandhill	*niimar(r)
182.	flying fox	*nimanburru
183.	true, really	*ningarra
184.	tasty, sweet	*niyarra
185.	corroboree, song	*nulu
186.	hot, sweat	*nundurr
187.	alive	*nunyji
188.	fire, (hot) coals	*nurru
189.	get, catch, pick up	*-nya
190.	pierce, spear	*-ra
191.	parent-in-law (male) (WF?, HF)	*rambarr
192.	parent-in-law (female) (WM, HM)	*rangin
193.	charcoal	*rirrka
194.	eat	*-rli
195.	exchange, return, in turn, barter	*rurrb
196.	suddenly, unexpectedly	*waangka
197.	frog type	*walak
198.	sun	*walka
199.	man	*wamba
200.	coolamon type	*wandarl
201.	wind	*wangal
202.	young man	*wangalangu
203.	spider, spiders web, net	*wangkarra
204.	wattle type	*wangkaya
205.	crow	*wangkidi
206.	other	*warany
207.	one	*waranyjarri
208.	north	*wardiya
209.	meat	*warli
210.	rag, cloth	*wara
211.	rib	*wiirri
212.	emu	*winini
213.	louse	*wirnka
214.	taste, try	*-wirrik
215.	give	*-wu
216.	water	*wula
217.	joke, fun	*wungul
218.	crawl	*yadab
219.	husband (H, HB)	*yaku
220.	ahead, front, first	*yalirr
221.	standing	*yalku
222.	south (WNN south wind)	*yalmban
223.	lick	*yaly
224.	tongue	*-yangala
225.	who, what	*yangki
226.	woomera	*yarnkal
227.	no, not	*yarri
228.	father (F, FB)	*yibala
229.	sickness	*yiika
230.	dog	*yila
231.	disharmonic generation	*yinar
232.	wattle type (used for spears)	*yirrakulu
233.	tree type (boomerang)	*yirrkili
234.	descend, sink, go down	*yuwurr

Proto-Western Nyulnyulan

The following reconstruction of Proto-Western Nyulnyulan is from Stokes and McGregor (2003):

no.	gloss	Proto-Western Nyulnyulan
235.	bad, sick, trouble	*alik
236.	no, not	*arri
237.	open	*baab
238.	belt, girdle	*baali
239.	blind	*bamburr
240.	now, today, when	*banangkarr
241.	groin	*bandakar(r)
242.	praise	*-(ba)ngar
243.	finish	*-bany
244.	stick, tree	*bardangk
245.	skin, bark (of tree)	*bardun
246.	king brown snake	*barnkard
247.	tie	*-barrkand
248.	yesterday	*bayirdi
249.	rotten	*biini
250.	strong, firm, fearless	*biinmal
251.	leaf	*bilibil
252.	bush country	*bindan
253.	bad luck	*bindikal
254.	cold	*binyj
255.	long	*-birndi
256.	mother (M, MZ)	*birray
257.	blunt	*buna
258.	swell up	*-bungkum
259.	kangaroo (generic)	*burruk
260.	arrive, emerge, come	*darr
261.	true	*darrgal
262.	hard (not soft)	*diwa
263.	wipe	*duk
264.	three	*irrjuwarr
265.	yes	*iyi
266.	return	*jakurd
267.	fear	*-jarik
268.	go	*-jid
269.	touch	*-jiding
270.	die	*-jimb
271.	arms akimbo	*jimbijimb
272.	downwards	*jimbilad
273.	stand up, come to a stand	*jirrjirr
274.	wash	*-juluk
275.	back	*-ka
276.	wander about, roam	*-kal
277.	approach, come up to	*-kalak
278.	fire drill	*kalib
279.	scratch	*-kand
280.	vomit	*-kanyb
281.	yam type	*karangkam
282.	body	*-karda
283.	bird	*karrambal
284.	sharp	*karrji
285.	later, soon	*karrm
286.	scent, smell	*kiir
287.	appearance, shape, form	*-kinbal
288.	wet (of object)	*kubad
289.	father	*kubul
290.	squeeze	*kuly
291.	wedge	*kumb
292.	throat	*kurrbal
293.	feather	*laaban
294.	light (not heavy)	*labalab
295.	egg	*lakurr
296.	sit down	*-landa
297.	good	*layib
298.	black	*maanka
299.	far	*maara
300.	wife	*malirr
301.	many	*-mana
302.	leave	*-mankarda
303.	wave (hand)	*-many
304.	sister (Z)	*marrir
305.	goanna	*mayala
306.	search, look for	*-mi
307.	native rat	*mijaw
308.	sing	*-mil
309.	tired	*milamb
310.	choke (on something)	*-mingka
311.	warm, hot (of weather)	*mula
312.	head hair	*mukarn
313.	knowledge, knowledgeable	*-mungku
314.	root	*-mungkul
315.	honey	*mungu
316.	pour, spill out, flow	*-mur
317.	smell	*-murrar
318.	small	*murrulu
319.	soil, make dirty, become dirty	*-ngali
320.	defend, take sides with	*-ngaliny
321.	deny, refuse	*-nga(n)ny
322.	mud	*ngijil
323.	neck (exterior)	*-ngkan
324.	soft	*ngub
325.	dirty	*ngunyb
326.	knee	*ngurrungk
327.	forehead	*-nkarra
328.	thigh	*-nmurr
329.	old man	*nyungurl
330.	dry	*-ralk
331.	warm oneself	*-ramb
332.	heavy	*rambin
333.	suck	*rung
334.	cloud	*wadan
335.	tail	*-wala
336.	lie on back	*walirr
337.	eagle	*warrikana
338.	north	*wardi
339.	rain	*wungur
340.	woman	*wurany
341.	fingernail	*wurrul
342.	elbow	*yalangkun
343.	mother-in-law of man (WM)	*yalirr
344.	together	*yambun
345.	inquest sticks	*yandal
346.	near, close	*yangan
347.	pull	*yarr
348.	native mouse	*yubur(r)yubur(r)

Proto-Eastern Nyulnyulan

The following reconstruction of Proto-Eastern Nyulnyulan is from Stokes and McGregor (2003):

no.	gloss	Proto-Eastern Nyulnyulan
349.	tree, stick	*baalu
350.	hither, this way	*bakuna
351.	thigh	*balngan(y)-
352.	smell	*-banyju
353.	thirsty	*barra
354.	hit by throwing	*-barri
355.	kangaroo	*barrjanin
356.	catfish	*barulu
357.	red	*bilyi
358.	bush country	*birra
359.	turn off	*birrb
360.	arrive, come	*-bula
361.	white	*dub
362.	heart	*durlbu
363.	walk, walkabout	*inyja
364.	mud	*jabula ~ *jakula
365.	camp	*jalbi
366.	woman	*jarndu
367.	hip	*jarrbal
368.	forehead	*jirrbal
369.	that	*ka-
370.	eat	*kabu
371.	egg	*kambiy
372.	watch, stare at	*kanyjirr
373.	moon	*kirridiny
374.	body	*karrikin
375.	tie	*-kula
376.	vomit	*kurrbuk
377.	throw	*laj
378.	flesh, muscle	*-lany
379.	good	*maabu
380.	tail	*makarra
381.	rotten, stink	*mandu
382.	spear type	*mangul
383.	many	*manyja
384.	no, not	*marlu
385.	hand	*-marrangka
386.	search, look for	*-murungu
387.	blue-tongue lizard	*ngalyak
388.	yes	*ngawayi
389.	nose	*nguni-
390.	sister (Z)	*ngunu
391.	afternoon	*ngurrangurra
392.	smoke	*ngurun
393.	knowledge, knowledgeable	*nila
394.	eagle-hawk	*walakurru
395.	stone	*wanangarri
396.	cry	*wangkurr
397.	later, soon	*wanyji
398.	dig	*widij
399.	belt	*windirri
400.	big	*wirdu
401.	leaf	*wirrkiny
402.	small	*wuba
403.	rub	*wurr

See also

In Spanish: Lenguas nyulnyulanas para niños