Nungali language

Nungali, or (with a different prefix) Yilngali, is an Australian language which is believed to be extinct. It was spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia, around the upper Daly River. Its closest relative is the Jaminjung language.

Nungali
Yilngali
Native toAustralia
RegionUpper Daly River, Northern Territory
EthnicityNungali
Extinctca. 2000
Mirndi
Language codes
ISO 639-3nug
Glottolognung1291
AIATSISN28
ELPNungali

It is the only Yirram language which has retained the original four-class system in nominals. The four classes are masculine, feminine, neuter and plants, and each of the classes have separate prefixes expressing the absolutive case, locative or ergative case, and the dative case.

Class Abs. Loc. / Erg. Dat.
I Masc. ti- nyi- ki-
II Fem. nya- nyani- kanyi-
III Neut. nu- / ni- nyi- ki- / ku-
IV Plants ma- - ki-

The locative case is also productive when it comes to placenames. An example is Nyimarlanpurruni referring to the Timber Creek area, which consists of the neuter locative prefix nyi-, the word for "river gum", the plural marker -purru, and an additional marker of the neuter locative, -ni.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.