| Gunbarlang | |
|---|---|
| Warlang | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Arnhem Land |
| Ethnicity | Gambalang |
| Extinct | by 2016[1] |
| Revival | by 2020 |
Arnhem
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wlg |
| Glottolog | kunb1251 |
| AIATSIS[3] | N69 |
| ELP | Kunbarlang |
Gunbarlang, orKunbarlang, is anAustralian Aboriginal language in northern Australia with multiple dialects. Other names areGungalang andWarlang. Speakers are multilingual inKunwinjku andMawng. Most of theGunbarlang people now speakKunwinjku.[4]
The language is part of alanguage revival project, as a critically endangered language.
Gunbarlang has been proposed to be included into themarne group of Gunwinyguan family,[5] making its closest relatives the Central Gunwinyguan languagesBininj Kunwok andDalabon. The labelmarne refers to the phonological shape of thebenefactiveapplicative affix common to all three languages (as opposed to thebak languages to the east, e.g.Rembarrnga,Ngandi andWubuy/Nunggubuyu).[6]
Some Gunbarlang speakers live inWarruwi onSouth Goulburn Island andManingrida. Historically, it was also spoken inGunbalanya.[7]
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | c | k | ʔ |
| tense | pː | tː | ʈː | cː | kː | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Lateral | l | ɭ | |||||
| Rhotic | ɾ | ɻ | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | |||||
/ɾ/ can also be heard as a trill [r].
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
Gunbarlang is apolysynthetic language with complex verb morphology. It includes polypersonal agreement,incorporation, and a number of derivational affixes. Word order in a (transitive) clause is SVO or SOV.[8][9]
Morphology is primarilyagglutinating. Verbal morphology (rather than case marking or syntax) encodes a significant part of grammatical relations.
The verb includes obligatory agreement with its core arguments in the form of bound pronouns. The subject/agent prefix precedes the object prefix. Subject prefixes form four mood series: positive indicative, "non-performative", future/intentional, and potential.[10]
The verb features derivational affixes, such as benefactive, directional, and TAM.
Case in not marked on nouns and free pronouns, but bound pronouns follownominative-accusative alignment.[11]
Gunbarlang distinguishes five noun classes on demonstratives (M, F, plants, body-parts, and inanimate), but only four on other constituents (collapsing the latter two).[12][13]
As of 2020[update], Kunbarlang is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by theDepartment of Communications and the Arts. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".[14]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)