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.
Initiation language
A distinct style of the language was used in male initiation ceremonies. Two phrases or words were given by an unitiated informant with unknown meaning., being biri buːn barung and marugung.[4]
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
- ^ Kite & Wurm 2004, p. 16.
- ^ E28 Wakka Wakka at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Waka Waka – ATSIDA
- ^ Kite & Wurm 2004, p. 9.
- 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.
| Authority control databases: National |
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