Rembarrnga language

Rembarrnga (Rembarunga) is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Northern Non-Pama–Nyungan languages, spoken in the Roper River region of the Northern territory. There are three dialects of Rembarrnga, namely Galduyh, Gikkik and Mappurn. It is a highly endangered language, with very few remaining fluent speakers. It is very likely that the language is no longer being learned by children. Instead, the children of Rembarrnga speakers are now learning neighbouring languages such as Kriol in south central Arnhem Land, and Kunwinjku, a dialect of Bininj Kunwok, in north central Arnhem Land.

Rembarrnga
Rembarunga
Native to	Australia
Region	Northern Territory
Ethnicity	Rembarrnga
Native speakers	51 (2021 census)[1]
Language family	Arnhem Gunwinyguan Rembarngic (Jala) Rembarrnga
Dialects	NE Rembarunga Kaltuy (Galduyh)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	rmb
Glottolog	remb1249
AIATSIS[2]	N73
ELP	Rembarrnga

Fluent speakers of Rembarrnga currently (2015) live in the remote towns of Maningrida and Ramingining, and in nearby outstations such as Borlkdjam, Buluhkaduru and Malnyangarnak. Some other communities associated with Rembarrnga are Ankebarrbirri, Barunga, Beswick and Bulman. Neighbouring languages include Dalabon, Burarra, Ngalakan, Ngandi and the Bininj Kunwok dialects Kunwinjku and Kune.

Linguists who have worked with Rembarrnga speakers to produce language materials include Graham McKay, Carolyn Coleman and Adam Saulwick. Principal works on Rembarrnga include a grammar,^[3][4] a dictionary^[5] and a learner's guide.^[6]

Phonology

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal	Apical		Glottal
	Labial	Velar	Palatal	Alveolar	Retroflex
Plosive	p~b	k~ɡ	c~ɟ	t~d	ʈ~ɖ	(ʔ)
Nasal	m	ŋ	ɲ	n	ɳ
Lateral				l	ɭ
Tap/Trill				ɾ~r
Approximant	w		j		ɻ

• Stop sounds are voiced as [b, d, ɖ, ɟ, ɡ] when in word-initial position or following nasal sounds.
• A glottal stop [ʔ] is heard in syllable-final position when after vowels or sonorant sounds.
• /ɾ/ can also be heard as a trill [r] in intervocalic position.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Low		a

• Vowels /i, e, a, o, u/ are heard as [ɪ, ɛ, æ, ɔ, ʊ] in closed syllables before /k/ and laminal sounds, and in glottalized open syllables.^[3]

References

1. "SBS Australian Census Explorer". Retrieved 10 January 2023.
2. N73 Rembarrnga at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
3. McKay, Graham (1975). Rembarnga : a language of central Arnhem Land. Canberra: PhD Thesis, Australian National University.
4. Saulwick, Adam (2003). Aspects of the verb in Rembarrnga, a polysynthetic language of northern Australia: grammatical description, texts and dictionary. Melbourne: PhD Dissertation, University of Melbourne.
5. Saulwick, Adam (2003). A first dictionary of Rembarrnga - compiled by Adam Saulwick; incorporating material recorded by Carolyn Coleman and Graham McKay. Maningrida: Maningrida Arts and Culture.
6. Saulwick, Adam (2003). A learner's guide to the Rembarrnga language. Maningrida: Maningrida Arts and Culture.