Extinct Aboriginal Australian language
Giimbiyu is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language isolate once spoken by the Giimbiyu people of northern Australia.
The name Giimbiyu is a Gaagudju word for 'of the stoney country'. It was introduced in Harvey (1992) as a cover term for the named dialects,[2]
- Mangerr (Mengerrdji)
- Urningangga (Wuningak) and Erri (Arri)
In 1997 Nicholas Evans proposed an Arnhem Land family that includes the Giimbiyu languages. However, they are not included in Bowern (2011).[3]
Phonology
Consonants
- Coarticulation among consonants is also present.
- Among consonant-coarticulation, /ɣ/ when preceding sounds /l, ɾ/ may result in being heard as a voiceless palatal [ç].
Vowels
- /u/ may also be heard as [o].
- Coarticulation among a preceding /ɪ/, may result in the vowel sound becoming more central [ɪ̈] or as a diphthong [ɪə].[4]
Vocabulary
Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[5]
References
- ^ Mangerr at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Urningangg at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Erre at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) - ^ a b N220 Giimbiyu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Bowern, Claire. 2011. "How Many Languages Were Spoken in Australia?", Anggarrgoon: Australian languages on the web, December 23, 2011 (corrected February 6, 2012)
- ^ Birch, Bruce (2006). A first dictionary of Erre, Mengerrdji and Urningangk: three languages from the Alligator Rivers Region of North Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation: Jabiru: Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corp.
- ^ Capell, Arthur. 1941-1942, 1942-1943. Languages of Arnhem Land, North Australia. Oceania 12: 364-392, 13: 24-51.
Wiktionary has a word list at
Appendix:North Australian word lists - McConvell, Patrick and Nicholas Evans. (eds.) 1997. Archaeology and Linguistics: Global Perspectives on Ancient Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press
