Native to Australia Ethnicity Wardaman | Region Northern Territory Language family Language isolate | |
 | ||
Native speakers 24 (2005) to 89 (2006 census) Dialects Wardaman
Dagoman
Yangman | ||
Wardaman is an Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the northern non-Pama–Nyungan languages. Dagoman and Yangman (both extinct) were either dialects or closely related languages; as a family, these are called Yangmanic. Though previously classified as Gunwinyguan, they have not been demonstrated to be related to other languages.
Contents
Sounds
The inventory of Wardaman proper:
Consonants
The alveolo-palatals are pronounced with the blade of the tongue; at the end of a syllable they may sound like yn and yl to an English ear. Even the y is said to have lateral spread and to be pronounced with the blade and body of the tongue. There is very little acoustic difference between the two apical series compared to other languages in the area. The alveolars may add a slight retroflex onglide to a following vowel, and the retroflexes may assimilate alveolars in the same word. Nonetheless, they remain phonemically distinct. Francesca describes the w as bilabial, and notes that there is little or no lip rounding or protrusion (except in assimilation to a following /u/ or /o/). The r is post-alveolar.