Diyari language
Diyari /ˈdiːjɑːri/ or Dieri /ˈdɪəri/[3] is an Australian Aboriginal language of South Australia.
Dirari (extinct late 20th century) was a dialect. Pirlatapa (extinct by the 1960s) may have been as well; data is poor. The information below is from Diyari proper.
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| Low | a | |
Consonants
| Peripheral | Laminal | Apical | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Velar | Palatal | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | ||
| Stop | Voiceless | p | k | c | t̪ | t | ʈ |
| Voiced | d~dʳ | ɖ | |||||
| Nasal | m | ŋ | ɲ | n̪ ~ d̪n̪ | n ~ dn | ɳ | |
| Lateral | ʎ | l̪ ~ d̪l̪ | l ~ dl | ɭ | |||
| Trill | [r] | ||||||
| Flap | [ɾ] | ||||||
| Approximant | w | j | ɻ | ||||
Several of the nasals and laterals are allophonically prestopped.[4]
The voiced alveolar stop [d] may have trilled release [dʳ] depending on dialect. Peter Austin (1988) suggests that this is due to Yandruwanhdha influence.
The voiced retroflex stop /ɖ/ often becomes a tap [ɽ] between vowels.
The stop [d]~[dʳ] is in complementary distribution with both the trill [r] and the flap [ɾ]. Austin (1981) analysed the trill [r] as being the intervocalic allophone of /d/~/dʳ/, with the flap /ɾ/ being a separate phoneme. R. M. W. Dixon (2002) suggests that [ɾ] could be considered the intervocalic allophone of /d/~/dʳ/, so then /r/ would be a separate phoneme. Having /d/ realized as [ɾ] would parallel the realization of /ɖ/ as [ɽ], and having /r/ rather than /ɾ/ as a phoneme matches most other Australian languages.
Grammar
Diyari has three different morphosyntactic alignments:
- Singular common nouns and male personal names follow an absolutive–ergative system.
- Plural first and second person pronouns follow a nominative–accusative system.
- Plural common nouns, female personal names and other pronouns follow a tripartite system.
Sign
The Diyari had a highly developed sign language.[5]
References
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Pirlatapa–Dieric". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ^ Diyari at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (see the info box for additional links)
- ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
- ^ Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 135
- ^ Kendon, A. (1988) Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Austin, Peter K. (1981). A grammar of Diyari, South Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22849-2.
- Austin, Peter K. (1988). "Trill-released stops and language change in Central Australian languages". Australian Journal of Linguistics. 8 (2): 218–245. doi:10.1080/07268608808599398.
- Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47378-0.
- Trefry, David (1970). "The phonological word in Dieri". In Laycock, D. C. Linguistic trends in Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies. pp. 65–73.
External links
- Bibliographies of published, rare or special materials on Diyari language and people, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies