Arabana
Arabana-Wangkangurru
An Arabana man making fire, c. 1904
RegionSouth Australia; west side Lake Eyre to Stuart Range, Maree, Port Augusta
EthnicityArabana people, Wongkanguru
Native speakers
31 (2021 census)[1]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
ard  Arabana
wgg  Wangganguru
Glottologarab1266
AIATSIS[3]L13 Arabana (cover term), L27 Wangkangurru
ELPArabana-Wangkangurru
Arabana is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Arabana or Arabuna /ˈʌrəbʌnə/[4] is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Pama–Nyungan family, spoken by the Wongkanguru and Arabana people.

The language is in steep decline, with an estimated 250 speakers according to 2004 NILS, to just 21 speakers found in the 2006 census.[3]

Geographic distribution

Arabana is spoken at Neales River on the west side of Lake Eyre west to the Stuart Range; Macumba Creek south to Coward Springs; at Oodnadatta, Lora Creek, Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, and The Peake. Their boundary with the Kokatha People to their west is marked by the margin of the scarp of the western tableland near Coober Pedy.[3]

Dialects

Arabana has three dialects: Piltapalta, which Hercus refers to as "Arabana Proper", Wangkakupa, and Midhaliri.[3] Wangganguru was also considered a dialect.

Phonology

Most of the nasals and laterals are allophonically prestopped.[5]

Peripheral Laminal Apical
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar Retroflex
Stop p k c t ɖ
Nasal m ~ ᵇm ŋ ɲ ~ ᶡɲ ~ ᵈ̪n̪ n ~ ᵈn ɳ
Lateral ʎ ~ ᶡʎ ~ ᵈ̪l̪ l ~ ᵈl ɭ
Vibrant ɾ ~ r
Approximant w j ɻ

Arabana has three phonemic vowel sounds as is typical in other Australian languages.

FrontBack
High iu
Low a

Bibliography

  1. Hercus, Luise. 1994. A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia: Pacific Linguistics C128. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  2. RMW Dixon (2002), Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, p xxxvii
  3. 1 2 3 4 L13 Arabana (cover term) at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  (see the info box for additional links)
  4. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  5. Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 135


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