Most of the peoples of central Australia have (or at one point had)signed forms of their languages. Among the Western Desert peoples, sign language has been reported specifically for Manjiljarra, though it is not clear from records how well developed it was.[6]
/i/ has allophones[i] or[ɪ] in free variation. Mainly as[ɪ] in stressed syllables, and as[i] in word-final position.
/u/ has the allophones[u] or[ʊ] in free variation. When following or preceding velar consonants, it may be realized as[o].
/a/ is typically pronounced as[a] or[ɑ] in free variation. When in unstressed syllables, it can be pronounced as[ʌ]. When following the glide/w/ or a labial or velar consonant, it can be realized as[ɒ]. When following palatal consonants, it can be realized as[æ] or[e]. When preceding glides /w,j/, it may be heard with vowel off-glides as[aᵘ,aⁱ].
The phoneme sequence/aji/ may be realized as a mid-close front long sound[eː].
Stops /p,t,ʈ,c,k/ have voiced allophones [b,d,ɖ,ɟ,ɡ] when following nasal sounds, or may be heard as voiced in free variation when following approximant sounds. Voiced stop allophones [b,ɟ,ɡ] may alternate with voiced fricative allophones [β,ʝ,ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
Palatal sounds /c,ɲ/ may alternate with laminal-alveolar sounds [t̻,n̻] when before /a,aː/ in word-initial position.
When preceding a word-final/u/, most consonant sounds occur as rounded[Cʷ].
/r/ is typically heard as a trill [r], and is mostly heard as a flap[ɾ] in word-medial or intervocalic positions. In word-final positions, it is commonly heard as a voiceless trill[r̥].[7]
^Claire Bowern and Quentin Atkinson. 2012. Computational phylogenetics and the internal structure of Pama-Nyungan. Language 88. 817-845. Johns Hopkins University Press.
^Burgman, Albert; Marsh, James; Hansen, Ken; Booth, Joshua (2005).Martu Wangka Dictionary and Topical Finderlist 2005 Draft. South Hedland, Western Australia: WANGKA MAYA Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre.ISBN1875946152.
^Kendon, A. (1988)Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^Marsh, James L. (1969).Mantjiltjara phonology. Oceanic Linguistics 8(2). pp. 131–152.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
