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| Jiwarli Vowels and Phonotactics |
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Page contents:
Phonotactics
The phonotactics of Jiwarli do not differ substantially from a pattern common to many Australian Aboriginal Languages:
No words start with vowels.
No words end with a consonant.
Only certain consonants are permitted in initial position - p, k, th, j, m, ng, nh, ny, w, and y - these are the non-apical stops and nasals and the glides.
Only certain consonants are permitted in root-final position - n, rn, ny, l, rl, ly, and rr. To satisfy the rule that all words must end in a vowel, endings are added to these consonant-final roots whenever they occur as follows:
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Roots ending in rl, l, ly, or rr must add |
pa |
eg. |
mantharlpa |
wild potato |
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mukulpa |
father's sister |
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wurrulypa |
leaf |
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purtarrpa |
heart |
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Roots ending in rn, n, or ny must add |
ma |
eg. |
nhungkurnma |
rotten |
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yakanma |
spouse |
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thalanyma |
tongue |
Vowels
Jiwarli has three simple vowels and we write these with the letters i, a, and u.
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i |
has the sound of |
ee |
in |
see |
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a |
has the sound of |
u |
in |
cut |
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u |
has the sound of |
oo |
in |
too
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So we have the following:
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mimi |
(uncle) |
sounds like |
"meemee" |
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papa |
(water) |
sounds like |
"pubba" |
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kulu |
(louse) |
sounds like |
"kooloo" |
Listen to Jack's vowels: jina (foot) kurrjartalu (spear) warri (not).
The long versions of each vowel are simply written double:
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ii |
as in |
piilura |
(dove) |
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aa |
as in |
maatha |
(boss) |
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uu |
as in |
nguu |
(face) |
Whereas the stress in Jiwarli is nearly always on the first syllable, the stress in words with long vowels is on whichever syllable contains the long vowel.
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