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Marrgu language

Marrgu (Marrku) is a recently extinct Aboriginal language of northern Australia. Additional names include Ajokoot, Croker Island, Raffles Bay, Terrutong (Terutong), Yaako (Jaako, Yako).[1]

Classification

Marrgu had been assumed to be an Iwaidjan language like its neighbours. However, Evans (2006) has produced evidence that it was a language isolate,[2] with possible connection to the extinct and poorly attested Wurrugu. This connection however is merely theoretical.

Phonology

Consonant inventory

Vowels

Marrgu had the three-vowel (/a/, /i/, /u/) system typical of Iwaidjan languages (Evans 1998).

References

  1. ^ a b Marrgu language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c N45 Marrgu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  3. ^ Evans, Nicholas (1998). "Iwaidja mutation and its origins". In Anna Siewierska & Jae Jung Song. Case, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 115–149.