Ngarla language

Ngarla is a Pama–Nyungan language of Western Australia.

Ngarla
Spoken in	Port Hedland area of Western Australia
Native speakers	4  (2010)[1]
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Southwest Ngayarda Ngarla
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nlr
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Ngarla is possibly mutually intelligible with Panyjima and Martuthunira, but the three are considered distinct languages.

Phonology

Consonants

	Peripheral		Laminal		Apical
	Bilabial	Velar	Palatal	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex
Stop	p	k	c	t̪	t	ʈ
Nasal	m	ŋ	ɲ	n̪	n	ɳ
Lateral			ʎ	l̪	l	ɭ
Rhotic					r	ɻ
Semivowel	w		j

Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i iː	u uː
Low	a aː

The long vowels are rare.^{[citation needed]}

Grammar

Tense markers

Ngarla tense markers for verbs ^[2]

Tense marker	Tense
-n	past
-ngkaya	present
-kuRa	future

Classification

Ngarla is classified as a member of the Ngayarda subgroup of the Southwest Pama–Nyungan languages. Under Carl Georg von Brandenstein's 1967 classification, Ngarla was classed as an Inland Ngayarda language, but the separation of the Ngayarda languages into Coastal and Inland groups is no longer considered valid.

Southwest Pama–Nyungan	Ngayarta Palyku Panyjima Ngarla Nyamal Jurruru Yinhawangka Ngarluma Kariyarra Martuthunira Nhuwala Yindjibarndi Kurrama Kanyara languages Mantharta languages Kartu languages Nyunga languages Mirniny languages Wati languages Marrngu languages Ngumpin languages Nannga languages Yura languages

Notes

1. ^ Westerlund, T: När engelskan kom till Australien, page 51. Språktidningen, February 2010. (In Swedish)
2. ^ Languages of the World: Indo-Pacific Fascicle Six”, Geoffrey O’Grady, C. F. Voegelin and F. M. Voegelin (1966:82)

References

• ”A grammatical sketch of Ngarla: A language of Western Australia”, Torbjörn Westerlund, 2007. (PDF version)

External links

• Wangka Maya