Wikipedia

Mantharta language

Mantharta
RegionWestern Australia
EthnicityTharrkari, Wariangga, Tenma, Jiwarli, ?Malgaru
Extinctby 2015[1]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
dhr – Dhargari
wri – Warriyangga
iin – Thiin
dze – Djiwarli
Glottologmant1266
AIATSIS[1]W21 Tharrkari, W22 Warriyangka, W25 Thiin, W28 Jiwarli
Mantharta languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan).

Mantharta is an extinct dialect cluster spoken in the southern Pilbara region of Western Australia. There are four varieties, which were distinct but largely mutually intelligible. The four are:[2][3]

  • Tharrgari (Tharrkari, Dhargari), still spoken c. 2005
  • Warriyangka (Wadiwangga), still spoken c. 1973
  • Thiin (Thiinma), still spoken as of 2021[4]
  • Jiwarli (Tjiwarli), extinct 1986

The name mantharta comes from the word for "man" in all four varieties.

Language revival

[edit]

As of 2020, the Warriyangga dialect is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages — those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".[5]

Phonology

[edit]

Consonants

[edit]
Consonants in the Thargari dialect[6][7]
Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p/b k/ɡ t̪/d̪ c/ɟ t/d ʈ/ɖ
Nasal m ŋ n̪ ɲ n ɳ
Rhotic ɾ
Lateral l̪ ʎ l ɭ
Approximant w j ɻ
  • /d̪/ can also be lenited as a fricative [ð] in intervocalic positions.
  • /ɾ/ can also be heard as a trill [r].
Consonants in all other dialects[8][7]
Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive p k t̪ c t ʈ
Nasal m ŋ n̪ ɲ n ɳ
Rhotic ɾ
Lateral l̪ ʎ l ɭ
Approximant w j ɻ
  • Stops may also be voiced as [b, ɡ, d̪, ɟ, d, ɖ] in medial position.

Vowels

[edit]
Front Back
Close i, iː u, uː
Open a, aː

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b W21 Tharrkari at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  2. ^ Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. p. xxxviii.
  3. ^ International Conference on Historical Linguistics (15th : 2001 : Melbourne); Bowern, Claire, 1977-; Koch, Harold James; International Conference on Historical Linguistics (15th : 2001 : Melbourne, Australia); Workshop on Reconstruction and Subgrouping in Australian Languages (2001 : Melbourne, Australia) (2004), Australian languages : classification and the comparative method, John Benjamins Pub, ISBN 978-1-58811-512-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Peter Salmon is the only known speaker of his language — he wants to change that before it's too late". ABC News. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Priority Languages Support Project". First Languages Australia. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  6. ^ Klokeid, Terry J (16 August 2018), Thargari phonology and morphology, Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, retrieved 10 October 2024
  7. ^ a b Austin, Peter K. (2015). A Reference Grammar of the Mantharta Languages, Western Australia.
  8. ^ Austin, Peter K. (1992). A dictionary of Warriyangga, Western Australia. LaTrobe University, Department of Linguistics.