Wakka Wakka language

Not to be confused with Wagawaga language (New Guinea).

Wakawaka
RegionSouth-east Queensland
EthnicityWakka Wakka
Extinct1965
Pama–Nyungan
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3wkw
Glottologwaka1274
AIATSIS[1]E28
ELPWaka-Waka
 Duungidjawu[2]
Map of traditional lands of Aboriginal Australians around Brisbane

The Wakka Wakka language, also spelt Waga, or Wakawaka, is an extinct Pama–Nyungan language formerly spoken by the Wakka Wakka people, an Aboriginal Australian nation near Brisbane, Australia.[3] Kaiabara/Gayabara, Nguwera/Ngoera, and Buyibara may be varieties or alternative names.

Phonology

Consonants

Peripheral Laminal Apical
Labial Velar Palatal Alveolar Retroflex
Plosive b ɡ ɟ d
Nasal m ŋ ɲ n
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant w j ɻ
  • /l/ may occasionally be velarized as [ɫ].
  • /l/ may also exist in the sequence /-lj-/, however; it is not realized as a palatal lateral sound [ʎ].

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a aː

References

  1. ^ E28 at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Duungidjawu.
  3. ^ Waka Waka - ATSIDA
  • Kite, Suzanne; Wurm, Stephen (2004). The Duungidjawu Language of the Southeast Queensland: Grammar, Texts and Vocabulary. Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-85883-550-4.
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