Nunggubuyu language

Nunggubuyu or Wubuy is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Nunggubuyu people ('Nunggubuyu' is nun- 'people of' + wubuy, the name of the language). It is the primary traditional language spoken in the community of Numbulwar in the Northern Territory, although Numbulwar is traditionally associated with the Warndarrang language.^[3] The language is classified as severely endangered by UNESCO,^[4] with only 283 speakers according to the 2021 census.^[1] Most children in Numbulwar can understand Nunggubuyu when spoken to, but cannot speak it themselves, having to reply in Kriol. To counter this, starting in 1990, the community has been embarking on a revitalisation programme for the language by bringing in elders to teach it to children at the local school.^[5]

Nunggubuyu
Wubuy
Native to	Australia
Region	Numbulwar, Northern Territory
Ethnicity	Nunggubuyu people
Native speakers	283 (2021 census)[1] perhaps 400 semi-speakers and second language speakers
Language family	Macro-Pama-Nyungan? Macro-Gunwinyguan East Arnhem Nunggubuyu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nuy
Glottolog	nung1290
AIATSIS[2]	N128
ELP	Wubuy
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Classification

The classification of Nunggubuyu is problematic. Heath (1997) postulates that Nunggubuyu is most closely related to Ngandi and Anindilyakwa. However, Evans (2003) believes that the similarities are shared retentions rather than shared innovations, and that Nunggubuyu is closest to the eastern Gunwinyguan languages.^[6]

Brett Baker (2004) demonstrates that Ngandi and Wubuy form an "Eastern Gunwinyguan" subgroup as distinct from the "jala"/"Rembarngic" subgroup which includes Rembarrnga and Ngalakgan.^[7] Furthermore, Van Egmond's (2012) study of the genetic position of Anindilyakwa supports Heath's hypothesis that Ngandi, Anindilyakwa and Wubuy/Nunggubuyu do constitute one subgroup within Gunwinyguan.^[8] Van Egmond and Baker (2020) expand Van Egmond's (2012) evidence with lexical comparison, demonstrating that Wubuy is related to both Ngandi and Anindilyakwa, but shares more sound changes and lexical items with the latter.

Phonology

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
	Bilabial	Velar	Palatal	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex
Nasal	m	ŋ	ɲ	n̪	n	ɳ
Plosive	p	k	c	t̪	t	ʈ
Tap					ɾ
Lateral				l̪	l	ɭ
Approximant	w		j			ɻ

/n̪/ is rare. /ɾ/ may optionally be pronounced as a trill when it occurs in word-initial position, which is rare.^[9]

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i iː	u uː
Low	a aː

Numbers

Nunggubuyu uses a quinary number system.^[10]

base numeral				+5				×5
15	1	anjbadj		115	6	maralibalinala mari anjbadj		105	5	marangandjbugidj
25	2	wulawa		125	7	maralibalinala mari wulawa		205	10	wurumulumara ngandjabugidj
35	3	wulanjbadj		135	8	maralibalinala mari wulanjbadj		305	15	wurumulumbulanbadj
45	4	wulawulal		145	9	maralibalinala mari wulawulal		405	20	wurumulumbulalwulal
105	5	marangandjbugidj		205	10	wurumulumara ngandjabugidj

Sample text

Ba-marang-dhayiyn
Ba-marang-gagagiyn
B a-marang-dhayiyn
Ba-marang-jaljaliyn
Ba-wan.ngang "hokey pokey"
Badhawawa-rumiyn
Aba dani-yung-bugij

(the Hokey Pokey in Wubuy)^[11]

Notes

1. "SBS Australian Census Explorer". Retrieved 12 January 2023.
2. N128 Nunggubuyu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
3. Numbulwar Numburindi Community Government Council (2007). "Numbulwar's Profile & Information". Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2007. The major language spoken in Numbulwar is Noongabuyu (Noon-ga-boy-you) along with creole. English is generally regarded as a third language in the community.
4. "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. UNESCO. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
5. Davidson, Helen (6 September 2016). "We talk in Wubuy but children reply in Kriol – Numbulwar school on a language rescue mission". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
6. Nicholas Evans, 2003, Bininj Gun-wok: a pan-dialectal grammar of Mayali, Kunwinjku and Kune, vol. 1
7. Baker, Brett. (2004). "Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in Gunwinyguan." In Koch, H. & Bowern, C. eds. Australian languages: Classification and the comparative method. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 313-40, 669-79.
8. Van Egmond, M-E. (2012). "Enindhilyakwa phonology, morphosyntax and genetic position." Doctoral thesis. University of Sydney. pp. 314–70.
9. Heath (1984): p. 12.
10. Capell, A. "A New Approach to Australian Linguistics", Oceania linguistic monographs 1 (1956), Sydney: University of Sydney, p. 68. Cited in John Harris, "Facts and Fallacies of Aboriginal Number Systems Archived 2007-08-31 at the Wayback Machine", SIL work paper series B, volume 8 (1982), p. 161.
11. "We talk in Wubuy but children reply in Kriol – Numbulwar school on a language rescue mission". TheGuardian.com. 6 September 2016.

References

• Heath, Jeffrey (1984). Functional Grammar of Nunggubuyu. Canberra: AIAS. ISBN 0-85575-157-6.
• Ladefoged, Peter (2005). Vowels and Consonants (Second ed.). Blackwell.

External links

• Nunggubuyu language books available in the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages