Marringarr language
Aboriginal language spoken in Australia's Northern Territory
title: "Marringarr language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["western-daly-languages", "endangered-indigenous-australian-languages-in-the-northern-territory"] description: "Aboriginal language spoken in Australia's Northern Territory" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marringarr_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Aboriginal language spoken in Australia's Northern Territory ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Marri Ngarr |
| nativename | Matige |
| states | Australia |
| region | Daly River |
| ethnicity | Marringarr, 100 Mati Ke |
| speakers | 5 Marri Ngarr |
| speakers2 | 2 Magati Ke (2009) |
| 50 L2 speakers | |
| date | 2016 census |
| ref | aiatsis |
| familycolor | Australian |
| fam1 | Western Daly |
| dia1 | Marri Ngarr |
| dia2 | Marti Ke (Magati-ge) |
| lc1 | zmt |
| ld1 | Marri Ngarr |
| lc2 | zmg |
| ld2 | Marti Ke |
| aiatsis | N102 |
| aiatsisname | Marri Ngarr |
| aiatsis2 | N163 |
| aiatsisname2 | Magati Ke |
| glotto | mari1418 |
| glottorefname | Maringarr–Matige |
| ELP2 | 2330 |
| ELPname2 | Mati Ke |
| :: |
| name = Marri Ngarr | nativename = Matige | states = Australia | region = Daly River | ethnicity = Marringarr, 100 Mati Ke | speakers = 5 Marri Ngarr | speakers2 = 2 Magati Ke (2009) 50 L2 speakers | date = 2016 census | ref = aiatsis | familycolor = Australian | fam1 = Western Daly | dia1 = Marri Ngarr | dia2 = Marti Ke (Magati-ge) | lc1 = zmt | ld1 = Marri Ngarr | lc2 = zmg | ld2 = Marti Ke | aiatsis = N102 | aiatsisname = Marri Ngarr | aiatsis2 = N163 | aiatsisname2 = Magati Ke | glotto = mari1418 | glottorefname = Maringarr–Matige | ELP2 = 2330 | ELPname2 = Mati Ke
The Maringarr language (Marri Ngarr, Marenggar, Maringa) is a moribund Australian Aboriginal language spoken along the northwest coast of the Northern Territory.
Marti Ke (Magati Ke, Matige, Magadige, Mati Ke, also Magati-ge, Magati Gair) lies in the same language category. It is or was spoken by the Mati Ke people. it is included in a language revival project which aims to preserve critically endangered languages.
Geographic distribution
The language has been spoken in the Northern Territory, Wadeye, along Timor Sea, coast south from Moyle River estuary to Port Keats, southwest of Darwin.
Current status
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/MagatiKelanguage.png" caption="The three Marringarr elders who are the last known native speakers of Magati Ke (2007)"] ::
According to the Language Database, as of 2005 Mati Ke language had a population of three (Patrick Nudjulu, Johnny Chula, Agatha Perdjert). Mati Ke speakers have primarily switched to use of English and the flourishing Aboriginal language Murrinh-Patha. The ethnic population is about 100, and there are 50 second language users.
As the language is almost non-existent to date, linguists have been working on collecting information and recording the voices of the remaining speakers.
Language revival project
, Mati Ke is one of 20 languages prioritised as part of the Priority Languages Support Project, being undertaken by First Languages Australia and funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts. The project aims to "identify and document critically-endangered languages—those languages for which little or no documentation exists, where no recordings have previously been made, but where there are living speakers".
Phonology
Consonants
::data[format=table]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Stop | voiceless | voiced | Fricative | Nasal | Lateral | Rhotic | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| () | |||||||||||||
| () | |||||||||||||
| () | |||||||||||||
| :: |
- /p/ may also be heard as a bilabial fricative [ɸ] in intervocalic positions.
- /c/ may also be heard as a fricative [ʒ] in intervocalic positions.
- /r/ may also be heard as a tap [ɾ], and can be realized as [r̥] within the position of voiceless sounds.
- Sounds /t, d, l/ may often be realized as retroflex sounds [ʈ, ɖ, ɭ] when following a non-front vowel.
- /t̪/ may also be heard as a fricative [ð] in intervocalic positions.
- /β/ may also be heard as a voiceless [ɸ], in various word-initial positions.
Vowels
::data[format=table]
| Front | Central | Back | High | Mid | Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~ | |||||
| :: |
- Sounds /i, u/ have lax allophones of [ɪ, ʊ] in word-medial and unstressed positions. They are mainly heard as [i, u] in stressed positions, in word-final positions or following glide sounds.
- /u/ can be realized as [ɔ] when preceded or followed by a peripheral consonant. When preceding a palatal consonant, it is realized as a diphthong [ɔɪ].
- /ɐ/ is often heard as [æ] when following a palatal consonant. When preceding a palatal consonant, it is realized as a diphthong [aɪ].
Grammar
The vocabulary is limited, therefore the relations and positioning of the words matter to make sense of the construction according to the situation. It is a polysynthetic language.
|niwinj yi gudingi-derrkurr-fingi-gawunh |3DU that 3DU.SBJ.DI.R.IPFV-sharpen-now-3DU.SBJ.SIT.R |'Those two fellas are sharpening their knives now.'}}
Marringarr also contains ergativity, which is marked by the postposition -ŋarrin.
Nouns' classification constitutes a core of the language that forms an understanding of the world for its speakers. There are 10 noun classes including: trees, wooden items and long rigid objects; manufactured and natural objects; vegetables; weapons and lightning; places and times; animals; higher beings such as spirits and people, and speech and languages.
::data[format=table]
| Noun class | Classifier |
|---|---|
| trees, wooden items and long rigid objects | thawurr |
| higher beings | me |
| animals | a |
| manufactured and natural objects | nhannjdji |
| vegetables | mi |
| :: |
Selected vocabulary
::data[format=table]
| Maringarr | English |
|---|---|
| mi bakulin | billygoat plum |
| nhanjdiji marri | cycad |
| a marri | bush cockroach |
| a wayelh | goanna lizard |
| a dhan gi | saltwater prawn |
| :: |
References
References
- Abley, Mark. (2003). "Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages". Random House Canada.
- "Marti Ke".
- "The Language Database - Mati Ke".
- "Priority Languages Support Project".
- Tryon, Darrell T.. (1974). "Marengar". Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
- Bicevskis, Katie. (2023). "A grammatical description of Marri Ngarr". University of Melbourne.
- (2017). "The Oxford handbook of polysynthesis".
- (1996). "The ergative in Proto-Australian". Lincom Europa.
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