| Maung | |
|---|---|
| Gun-Marung | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Goulburn Island,Arnhem Land |
| Ethnicity | Maung people |
Native speakers | 360 (2021 census)[1] |
| Dialects | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mph |
| Glottolog | maun1240 |
| AIATSIS[2] | N64 |
| ELP | Mawng |
Maung (Mawung, Mawng, Gun-marung) is anAustralian aboriginal language spoken by theMaung people on theGoulburn Islands, off the north coast ofArnhem Land, in theNorthern Territory ofAustralia. Maung is closely related toIwaidja language which occupies the northwestern corner of the opposite mainland. This is a language that belongs to theIwaidjan language family ofNon-Pama–Nyungan languages.[3] As of 2021, there were around 360 speakers of the language.[1]
Study of Maung has developed to the point where a dictionary, grammar and portions of theBible are available.[4] Maung is taught in local schools alongsideEnglish and other languages such asIwaidja orKunwinjku. Children are still acquiring it as afirst language,[4] making it somewhat healthier than most other aboriginal languages.
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Postalveolar | Alveolar | Retroflex | |
| Plosives | p | k | tʲ | t | ʈ |
| Nasals | m | ŋ | nʲ | n | ɳ |
| Laterals | l | ɭ | |||
| Flaps | ɾ | ɽ | |||
| Approximants | w | ɣ | j | ɹ | |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | a |
The phonemic inventories provided here are from Capell's well-known 1970 work on Maung.[3] More recent papers (Singer 2006;[5] Teo 2007[6]) have only two rhotics to Capell's three. Teo lacks the alveolar flap, and Singer the retroflex flap. (In a minor difference, both describe the approximant as retroflex, whereas Capell describes it as alveolar.)
Maung has fivegrammatical genders: masculine, feminine, vegetation, land, and edible.[7]