Nukunu (or Nugunu or many other names: see below) is a moribund Australian Aboriginal language spoken by Nukunu people on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. As of 2017, there is a revival and maintenance programme under way for the language.
Names This language has been known by many names by neighbouring tribes and Australianists, including:
Nukuna, Nokunna, Noocoona, Nookoona, Nuguna, Nukana, Nukunnu, Nukunu, Njuguna Doora Pukunna Tjura, Tyura Wallaroo, Warra Wongaidya (from , present tense form of verb 'to speak')
Classification Nukunu is a Pama–Nyungan language, closely related to neighboring languages in the Miru clusterHercus pp. 1; Schmidt called this cluster (a subgroup of Thura–Yura) as "Miru" in 1919. Perhaps these languages are part of the Kadli group as well. like Narungga, Kaurna, and Ngadjuri.
Phonology Vowels Nukunu has three different vowels with contrastive long and short lengths (a, i, u, a:, i:, u:).
Front Back High Low
Consonants The Nukunu consonantal inventory is typical for a Pama–Nyungan language, with six places of articulation for stops and nasals. There are three rhotics in the language.
Peripheral Laminal Apical Labial Velar Dental Palatal Alveolar Retroflex Stop Voiceless Voiced () Nasal Lateral Tap Trill Approximant
A phonemic voicing contrast exists in Nukunu, but it has only been observed in the retroflex stop series. An example demonstrating such a contrast intervocalically is kurdi (phlegm, IPA ['kuɖi]) and kurti (quandong, IPA ['kuʈi]).
History In contrast with other Thura–Yura languages, Nukunu did not partake in either the initial th- lenition before vowels or the lenition of initial k- before vowels.
Notes
References