Dhudhuroa language

Dhudhuroa
Victorian Alpine
RegionNorth-eastern Victoria, Australia
EthnicityDhudhuroa, Djilamatang, ?Minjambuta
Extinctearly 20th century
Revival2010s
Language codes
ISO 639-3ddr
Glottologdhud1236
AIATSIS[1]S44

Dhudhuroa is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of north-eastern Victoria. As it is no longer spoken, Dhudhuroa is primarily known today from written material collected by R. H. Mathews from Neddy Wheeler.[2] It has gone by numerous names, including Dhudhuroa, the Victorian Alpine language, Dyinningmiddhang, Djilamatang, Theddora,[3] Theddoramittung, Balangamida, and Tharamirttong. Yaitmathang (Jaitmathang), or Jandangara (Gundanora), was spoken in the same area, but was a dialect of Ngarigu.[1]

The Dhudhuroa language is currently undergoing a revival, and is being taught at Bright Secondary College and Wooragee Primary School.[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar
Plosive b d̪ ⟨dh⟩ d (ɖ ⟨rd⟩) ɟ ⟨dj⟩ ɡ
Nasal m n̪ ⟨nh⟩ n (ɳ ⟨rn⟩) ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Lateral l
Rhotic r ⟨rr⟩
Approximant w j ⟨y⟩

Blake and Reid (2002) suggest that there were possibly two retroflex consonants, but there is not enough evidence for them.[5]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i      iː u      uː
Open a      aː

Grammar

Nouns are inflected for number, gender and case.

There are three numbers, the singular, dual and plural.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b S44 Dhudhuroa at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ^ Blake & Reid 2002.
  3. ^ Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, volume 75, page 324: It is obvious that the two, the Theddora and the Dhudhuroa, are the same.
  4. ^ Jacks, Timna (10 October 2015). "VCE Indigenous language students awaken 'sleeping' Dhudhuroa tongue". The Age. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. ^ Blake & Reid 2002, p. 185.
  6. ^ Mathews 1909, pp. 278–279.

Sources

Further reading

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