Miriwoong language explained

Miriwoong
Region:Kununurra, Western Australia
Ethnicity:Miriwung
Speakers:168
Date:2021 census
Ref:[1]
Familycolor:Australian
Fam1:Jarrakan
Dia1:Gajirrawung
Dia2:? Dulbung
Iso3:mep
Aiatsis:K29
Mapcaption:(red) Miriwoong language (purple) other Jarrakan languages (grey) other non-Pama-Nyungan languages
Sign:Miriwoong Sign Language
Glotto:miri1266
Glottorefname:Miriwung

Miriwoong, also written Miriuwung and Miriwung, is an Aboriginal Australian language which today has fewer than 20 fluent speakers, most of whom live in or near Kununurra in Western Australia.[2] All of the fluent speakers are elderly and the Miriwoong language is considered to be critically endangered. However, younger generations tend to be familiar with a lot of Miriwoong vocabulary which they use when speaking Kimberley Kriol or Aboriginal English.

Country

Ancestral Miriwoong territory covered an estimated 4000mi2 and extended from the valley of the Ord River north to Carlton Hill Station, upstream to Ivanhoe Station, and east to Newry Station, and along the Keep River to near the coastal swamps.

Linguo-genetic categorisation

Miriwoong is categorised by linguists as a Non-Pama-Nyungan language and part of the Jarrakan subgroup.

Sign

As is common in many Australian language communities, the Miriwoong people have a signed language that is used in addition to the spoken languages of the community.

Multilingualism

Despite the endangered status of the Miriwoong language, the Miriwoong community is vibrantly multilingual. Languages spoken include Miriwoong (for a small number of speakers), the Miriwoong signed language, Kimberley Kriol, and English. Two varieties of English are present in the community, Aboriginal English, and Standard Australian English. Many speakers are bi-dialectical in both varieties while many others have a strong preference for Aboriginal English.

Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring

The Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre has been tasked with the preservation and revitalisation of the Miriwoong language since the 1970s.[3]

MDWg engages in a wide range of language revitalisation and documentation activities including a language nest, public language classes and on-country training camps. The language nest reaches around 300 children every week, both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous.

A significant part of MDWg's revitalisation efforts is the publication of books in Miriwoong.

Some linguistic features

Phonology

Vowels

The vowel system of Miriwoong comprises the following four vowel phonemes. Length is not phonemic.

frontcentralback
highpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
midpronounced as /link/
lowpronounced as /link/

Consonants

Miriwoong distinguishes 19 consonant phonemes. The consonant inventory of Miriwoong is fairly typical for Indigenous Australian languages, having multiple lateral and nasal consonants, no voicing contrast, and no fricatives.

PeripheralLaminalApical
BilabialVelarLamino-
dental
Lamino-
palatal
AlveolarRetroflex
Plosivepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Nasalpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Trillpronounced as /link/
Lateralpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Approximantpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/ may be heard as either pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/.

Orthography

The largely phonemic orthography of Miriwoong was developed at the Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring. Some sounds that do not have a standard character in the Latin script are represented by digraphs. The vowel /u/ is spelled oo in Miriwoong.

GraphemeIPA symbolMiriwoong exampleEnglish translation
Vowels
aaplace
eəman
ooudog
iicat
iyii: ~ ijiyes
Monograph consonants
bbto stand
ddheart
ggfish
jc~ɟswim
K (only following n)gfootprints
llwhite
mmmagpie goose
nnKununurra (river)
rɻ ~ ɹgrass
wwsmall (f)
yjnon-meat food
Digraph consonants
lyʎtick
ngŋbig
nhred
nyɲrock
rdɖcup
rlɭwater
rnɳpaper
rrrBandicoot Bar (place name)
thblack
MDWg is working with local organisations to conform to the standardised orthography when Miriwoong is written in documents or signage.

See also: Transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages

Grammar

Some notable features of Miriwoong grammar are as follows:

Nouns

Gender

Miriwoong nouns have grammatical gender and adjectives and demonstratives agree with the noun. There are two genders, designated masculine and feminine.

Case

Nouns are not marked for case in Miriwoong, although arguments are cross-referenced on the verb, in most cases using a nominative-accusative pattern.

Verbs

Verbs in Miriwoong have a compound system of coverbs, which are generally uninflected and carry the main semantic content, and inflecting verbs, which carry the grammatical information. Both coverbs and verbs can stand alone but most verbal expressions comprise both a coverb and an inflecting verb[4] (Newry 2015: 20-21). The inflecting verbs are a closed class and number around 20 while the coverbs are an open class. This type of verb system has been observed in other Australian languages, particularly in languages spoken in the north of Australia.

Other sources

Miriwoong language books

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SBS Australian Census Explorer. 12 Jan 2023.
  2. Web site: Our Country. Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring. Mirima Dawanga Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre. 2016-10-19. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160228022433/http://mirima.org.au/our-country.html. 2016-02-28.
  3. Book: Olawsky, Knut. Revitalisation strategies for Miriwoong. Re-awakening languages: Theory and practice in the revitalisation of Australia's indigenous languages. Sydney University Press. 2010. Hobson. John. Sydney. 146–154. Lowe. Kevin. Poetsch. Susan. Walsh. Michael.
  4. Book: Newry, Dawayne. Ninggoowoong boorriyang merndang - Family book.. Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring. 2015. 978-0-9922849-5-4. Kununurra, WA, Australia. 20–21.