Dhuwal language (original) (raw)
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Australian Aboriginal language of the Yolngu group spoken in the Northern Territory
| Dhuwal | |
|---|---|
| Dhay'yi | |
| Native to | Australia |
| Region | Northern Territory |
| Ethnicity | Daii, Dhuwal, Dhuwala, Makarrwanhalmirr |
| Native speakers | 4,200 (2021 census)[1] |
| Language family | Pama–Nyungan Yolŋu languagesSouthern (Dhuwal)Dhuwal |
| Standard forms | Dhuwaya |
| Dialects | Gupapuyngu Gumatj Djambarrpuyngu Djapu Liyagalawumirr Guyamirlili Dhalwangu [Dhay'yi] Djarrwark [Dhay'yi] |
| Signed forms | Yolŋu Sign Language |
| Official status | |
| Official language in | Northern Territory (as lingua franca for Aboriginal people)[2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:dwu – Dhuwaldjr – Djambarrpuyngugnn – Gumatjguf – Gupapuyngudax – Dayi (Dhay'yi)dwy – Dhuwaya |
| Glottolog | dhuw1248 Dhuwal-Dhuwaladayi1244 Dayi |
| AIATSIS[3] | N198 Dhuwal, N199 Dhuwala, N118 Dhay'yi |
| ELP | Dhuwala |
| Liyagalawumirr[4] | |
| Liyagawumirr[5] | |
| Dhay'yi[6] |
Dhuwal (also Dual, Duala) is one of the Yolŋu languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory, Australia. Although all Yolŋu languages are mutually intelligible to some extent, Dhuwal represents a distinct dialect continuum of eight separate varieties. In 2019, Djambarrpuyŋu became the first Indigenous language to be spoken in an Australian parliament, when Yolŋu man and member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Yingiya Guyula gave a speech in his native tongue.[7]
According to linguist Robert M. W. Dixon,
- Dialects of the Yirritja moiety are (a) Gupapuyngu and Gumatj;
- Dialects of the Dhuwa moiety are (b) Djambarrpuyngu, Djapu, Liyagalawumirr, and Guyamirlili (Gwijamil).
- In addition, it would appear that the Dhay'yi (Dayi) dialects, (a) Dhalwangu and (b) Djarrwark, are part of the same language.[8]
Ethnologue divides Dhuwal into four languages, plus Dayi and the contact variety Dhuwaya (numbers are from the 2006 census.[_citation needed_]):
- Dhuwal proper, Datiwuy, Dhuwaya, Liyagawumirr, Marrangu, and Djapu: 600 speakers
- Djampbarrpuyŋu, 2,760 speakers
- Gumatj, 240 speakers
- Gupapuyngu, 330 speakers
- Dhay'yi (Dayi) and Dhalwangu, 170 speakers
Dhuwaya is a stigmatised contact variant[_clarification needed_] used by the younger generation in informal contexts, and is the form taught in schools, having replaced Gumatj ca. 1990.[_citation needed_]
| | Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | Glottal | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------- | | Labial | Velar | Dental | Palatal | Alveolar | Retroflex | | | | | Plosive | Fortis | p | k | t̪ | c | t | ʈ | ʔ | | Lenis | b | g | d̪ | ɟ | d | ɖ | | | | Nasal | m | ŋ | n̪ | ɲ | n | ɳ | | | | Tap | | | | | ɾ | | | | | Lateral | | | | | l | ɭ | | | | Glide | | w | | j | | ɻ | | |
| | Front | Back | | | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | High | i iː | u uː | | Low | a aː | |
Vowel length is contrastive in first syllable only.[9][10]
Probably every Australian language with speakers remaining has had an orthography developed for it, in each case in the Latin script. Sounds not found in English are usually represented by digraphs, or more rarely by diacritics, such as underlines, or extra symbols, sometimes borrowed from the International Phonetic Alphabet. Some examples are shown in the following table.
| Language | Example | Translation | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitjantjatjara dialect of the Western Desert language | paṉa | 'earth, dirt, ground; land' | diacritic (underline) indicates the retroflex nasal ([ɳ]) |
| Wajarri | nhanha | 'this, this one' | digraph indicating the dental nasal ([n̪]) |
| Yolŋu languages | yolŋu | 'person, man' | ⟨ŋ⟩ represents the velar nasal (borrowed from the International Phonetic Alphabet) |
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ djr Ethnologue
- ^ N198 Dhuwal at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
- ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Liyagalawumirr.
- ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Liyagawumirr.
- ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Dhay'yi.
- ^ "Yingiya Mark Guyula makes history, addressing NT Parliament in language". National Indigenous Times. 1 July 2022. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ Dixon, Robert M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. p. xxxvi. ISBN 978-0-521-47378-1.
- ^ Heath, Jeffrey (1980). Dhuwal (Arnhem Land) texts on kinship and other subjects, with grammatical sketch and dictionary. Oceania Linguistics Monographs. Vol. 23. University of Sydney. p. 4. hdl:2027.42/117643.
- ^ Walker, Alan; Zorc, David R. (1981). "Austronesian loanwords in Yolngu-Matha of northeast Arnhem Land". Aboriginal History. 5 (1–2): 109–134. JSTOR 24045706.