| Laragiya | |
|---|---|
| Region | NearDarwin,Northern Territory,Australia |
| Ethnicity | Larrakia |
Native speakers | 14 (2016 census)[1] |
Darwin
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lrg |
| Glottolog | lara1258 |
| AIATSIS[2] | N21 |
| ELP | Larrakiya |
| Linguasphere | 28-HBA-a |
TheLaragiya language, also speltLarrakia (deriving fromLarrakia people), and also known asGulumirrgin, is anAustralian Aboriginal language spoken by just six people near the city ofDarwin in northern Australia as of 1983. Only 14 people claimed to know the Laragiya language in 2016.
Laragiya was once considered alanguage isolate, but Mark Harvey has made a case for it being part of a family ofDarwin Region languages.[3]
LinguistArthur Capell wrote,
"Even in 1950 there were no children speaking it, and most of the older people who spoke it in 1952 (when the bulk of these notes was gathered) were found on theDelissaville Reserve (nowBelyuen ), across the harbour from Darwin. By 1968, reports of only two speakers could be gained, and these far away from Darwin. In former times, however, the tribe was fairly large, and its territory extended to the Coolalinga, where it joined that of a tribe called "Woolna" by the early writers, while on the south-east it was bounded by theWarrai. These latter languages are practically unrecorded.
"The present outline of Laragia is based on notes taken at various periods, chiefly 1949 and 1952. The notes have been systematised as far as possible, but they make no claim to provide a fully laid out grammar, especially on the phonetic level."
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Velar | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
| Stop | b | ɡ | ɟ | d | ɖ |
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n | ɳ |
| Fricative | β | ||||
| Lateral | ʎ | l | ɭ | ||
| Rhotic | r | (ɽ) | |||
| Approximant | w | j | ɹ | ||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɵ~ʉ | u |
| Mid | e ɛ | o | |
| Low | a |
"Morphophonemic rules are not so complex in Laragia as inMaung andJiwadja, though some are shared between the three languages. One in particular is shared withNgarinyin in the NorthernKimberley Division ofWestern Australia. The chief difficulties in setting up anorthography for Laragia are due to certainmorphophonemic rules, but others arise from the indefinite pronunciations..."
Concord formation
"Laragia is a member of the multiple-classifying language group, but has the somewhat unusual practice of combining prefixes and suffixes in the formation of the concord. The Laragiaconcord is shown by a discontinuousmorpheme - at least in many cases, but not in the verb - partly prefixal and partly suffixal."It is whatZellig Harris called a 'broken sequence'. It may be mentioned in passing that the majority of the multiple-classifying languages in North Australia used prefixal forms to mark the classes, but a few, such asWorora andUnggumi in the Northern Kimberley Division of Western Australia, have vestigial suffixes, while a few on theBarkly Tablelands in the eastern part of theNorthern Territory use only suffixes. These phenomena suggest that the languages originally had, as Laragia still does, markers at each end of the word."[5]
Larrakia Elder Robert Mills of Batji Tours[6] is able to name plants and animals. Lorraine Williams, a Larrakia woman and Research Associate with the School of Australian Indigenous Knowledge Systems published online, "For a lot of my life I have been involved in and have given evidence as a claimant in the Kenbi Land Claim and the Darwin Native Title proceedings. I am currently working on Larrakia Cultural Heritage Management focusing on Larrakia archaeological sites in the Darwin region and I have a keen interest in all things Larrakia. In years gone by I have worked on Larrakia ethnobiology with the view to keeping Larrakia language and culture strong. I am a member of the Batcho family of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation".
The Larrakia have in the past referred to themselves asGulumerrgin. Gulumerrgin is one of the names for the language spoken by the Larrakia.[7]
Capell (1940) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[8]
| gloss | Laragia |
|---|---|
| man | bilöva |
| woman | binjidba |
| head | maːluma |
| eye | damaɽa |
| nose | gwingwa |
| mouth | gwiabulgwa |
| tongue | gwiamilawa |
| stomach | med’lema |
| bone | mujagwa |
| blood | damadjila |
| kangaroo | mi’luːlula |
| opossum | gudgida |
| crow | goaːgoaːva |
| fly | gumulɛːlva |
| sun | dalira |
| moon | duːrjawa |
| fire | gujuguwa |
| smoke | damudjila |
| water | gaːɽuwa |
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