| Nyulnyul | |
|---|---|
| Region | Western Australia |
| Ethnicity | Nyulnyul people |
| Extinct | 1999, with the death ofCarmel Charles |
Nyulnyulan
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nyv |
| Glottolog | nyul1247 |
| AIATSIS[1] | K13 |
| ELP | Nyulnyul |
Nyulnyul is anextinctAustralian Aboriginal language, formerly spoken by theNyulnyul people ofWestern Australia.
Mary Carmel Charles is documented as the last fluent speaker of the Nyulnyul language ofWestern Australia.[2]
Nyulnyul has seventeen consonant phonemes, with five distinct places of articulation. Nyulnyul is a morphologically complex language with both prefixing and suffixing.[3]
| Bilabial | Apico-alveolar | Apico-post-alveolar | Lamino-palatal | Dorso-velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops | b⟨b⟩ | d⟨d⟩ | ɖ⟨rd⟩ | c⟨j⟩ | g⟨g⟩ |
| Nasals | m⟨m⟩ | n⟨n⟩ | ɳ⟨rn⟩ | ɲ⟨ny⟩ | ŋ⟨ng⟩ |
| Laterals | l⟨l⟩ | ɭ⟨rl⟩ | ʎ⟨ly⟩ | ||
| Taps | r⟨rr⟩ | ||||
| Glides | w⟨w⟩ | ɻ⟨r⟩ | j⟨y⟩ |
Nyulnyul uses a three vowel system, with contrastive length for all vowels.[4]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i[i], ii[iː] | u[u], uu[uː] |
| Open | a[a], a[aː] |
Nyulnyul is very closely related to and was possiblymutually intelligible withBardi,Jawi,Jabirrjabirr andNimanburru. These are all members of the Western Nyulnyulan subgroup ofNyulnyulan, anon-Pama-Nyungan family of northern Australia. It is possible thatNgumbarl also belongs to this group, although Bowern makes arguments from the Daisy Bates/Billingee records that Ngumbarl is an Eastern Nyulnyulan language.[5] Speakers consider these all to be distinct.
Nyulnyul is a morphologically complex language with both prefixing and suffixing.[6]: 43 The language has anergative alignment system. Nouns do not have classes, but case on phrases is marked through bound postpositions. Verbs roots are inflected for person and number of its subject, tense, mood and voice through prefixes. A number of suffixes with different meanings can also optionally be used.[6]: 44 Verbs are also used in compound verb constructions where a non-inflecting preverb is used together with an inflected verb. The language also has a number of adverbs and particles.
Clauses can also be constructed without the use of verbs when presentative, attributive or identifying. Theword order is free.[6]: 45
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