Extinct language of Australia
| Marrgu |
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| Yaako |
| Native to | Australia |
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| Region | Croker Island, Northern Territory |
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| Ethnicity | Yaako |
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| Extinct | 1 speaker reported in 2000;[1] 2 reported to partly understand it in 2008[2] |
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Language family | |
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| Language codes |
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| ISO 639-3 | mhg |
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| Glottolog | marg1251 |
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| AIATSIS[2] | N45 |
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| ELP | Marrgu |
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 Marrgu language (purple arrow), among other non-Pama–Nyungan languages (grey) |
 Closeup |
Marrgu (Marrku) is a recently extinct Aboriginal language of northern Australia. Additional names include Ajokoot, Croker Island, Raffles Bay, Terrutong (Terutong), Yaako (Jaako, Yako).[1]
Classification
Marrgu had been assumed to be an Iwaidjan language like its neighbours. However, Evans (2006) has produced evidence that it was a language isolate,[2] with possible connection to the extinct and poorly attested Wurrugu. This connection however is merely theoretical.
Phonology
Consonant inventory
Vowels
Marrgu had the three-vowel (/a/, /i/, /u/) system typical of Iwaidjan languages (Evans 1998).
References
- ^ a b Marrgu language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c N45 Marrgu at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Evans, Nicholas (1998). "Iwaidja mutation and its origins". In Anna Siewierska & Jae Jung Song. Case, Typology and Grammar: In honor of Barry J. Blake. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 115–149.
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| Africa | |
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Eurasia
(Europe
and Asia) | |
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New Guinea
and the Pacific | |
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| Australia | |
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North
America | |
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| Mesoamerica | |
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South
America | | Isolates
(extant in 2000) | |
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|
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Sign
languages | |
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| See also | |
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- Families with question marks (?) are disputed or controversial.
- Families in italics have no living members.
- Families with more than 30 languages are in bold.
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