Martuthunira language
| Martuthunira | |
|---|---|
| Region | Western Australia |
| Extinct | 6 August 1995 with the death of Algy Paterson. |
|
Pama–Nyungan
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | mart1255 |
| AIATSIS | W35 |
Martuthunira is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language, that was the traditional language of the Martuthunira people of Western Australia.
The last fluent speaker of Martuthunira, Algy Paterson, died on 6 August 1995. From 1980 he worked with the linguist Alan Dench to preserve Martuthunira in writing, and it is from their work that most of our knowledge of Martuthunira today comes.
The name Martuthunira, pronounced [maɽʊðʊneɻa] by native speakers, means "those who live around the Fortescue River". It has many spelling variants, including: Maratunia, Mardadhunira, Mardathon, Mardathoni, Mardathoonera, Mardatuna, Mardatunera, Mardudhoonera, Mardudhunera, Mardudhunira, Mardudjungara, Marduduna, Mardudunera, Marduthunira, Mardutunera, Mardutunira, Marduyunira, Martuthinya, and Martuyhunira.
Martuthunira is classified as a member of the Ngayarta branch of the Pama–Nyungan languages. Under Carl Georg von Brandenstein's 1967 classification, Martuthunira was classed as a Coastal Ngayarda language, but the separation of the Ngayarda languages into Coastal and Inland groups is no longer considered valid.
Martuthunira has a fairly standard Australian phonology. R. M. W. Dixon uses it as a prototypical example in his 2002 book Australian Languages: Their nature and development.
The laterals—but perhaps uniquely not the nasals—are allophonically prestopped.
The laminal stop /c/ has a voiced allophone [ɟ] between vowels.
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