Yawuru language
Nyulnyulan language spoken in Australia
title: "Yawuru language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nyulnyulan-languages"] description: "Nyulnyulan language spoken in Australia" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawuru_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Nyulnyulan language spoken in Australia ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Yawuru |
| region | Australia |
| ethnicity | Yawuru, Jukun |
| speakers | 152 |
| date | 2021 census |
| ref | |
| familycolor | Australian |
| fam1 | Nyulnyulan |
| fam2 | Eastern |
| dia1 | Julbayi |
| dia2 | Marangan |
| dia3 | Jukun |
| iso3 | ywr |
| glotto | yawu1244 |
| glottorefname | Yawuru |
| aiatsis | K1 |
| map | File:Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal Tribes around Derby.png |
| mapcaption | Map of the traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Derby, Western Australia. Yawuru is the dark blue. |
| :: |
|name = Yawuru |nativename = |region = Australia |ethnicity = Yawuru, Jukun |speakers = 152 |date = 2021 census |ref = |familycolor = Australian |fam1 = Nyulnyulan |fam2 = Eastern |dia1 = Julbayi |dia2 = Marangan |dia3 = Jukun |iso3 = ywr |glotto = yawu1244 |glottorefname = Yawuru |aiatsis = K1 |map=File:Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal Tribes around Derby.png |mapcaption=Map of the traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Derby, Western Australia. Yawuru is the dark blue.
Yawuru is a Western Nyulnyulan language spoken on the coast south of Broome in Western Australia.
Grammatically it resembles other Nyulnyulan languages. It has a relatively free word order.
By the late 1990s the number of fluent speakers of Yawuru had dropped to a handful but a few younger people dedicated themselves to learning the language and they are now teaching it in schools and in adult classes, in Broome.
Phonology
The vowel phonemes are short vowels /ɪ/, /a/, and /u/, and long vowels /iː/, /aː/, and /ʊː/ (spelled ii, aa, uu).
Consonantal segments include: ::data[format=table]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | plain | palatalized | Stop | voiceless | voiced | Nasal | Approximant | lateral | plain | Flap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | t | t̠ʲ | ʈ | k/q | ||||||||||
| b | d | d̠ʲ | ɖ | g | ||||||||||
| m | n | n̠ʲ | ɳ | ŋ | ||||||||||
| l | l̠ʲ | ɭ | ||||||||||||
| ɻ | j | w | ||||||||||||
| ɾ | ɾʲ | |||||||||||||
| :: |
Speakers also use glottal stops, implosives, and ejectives.
Syllable structure in the initial position is #CV(:) (C(C)), in the medial position is CV(:)(C), and in the final position is CV(C(C))#. # representing the word boundary, C standing for consonant, V for vowel, and V: for long vowel. The most common syllables are CV or CVC (CV: or CV:C).
Orthography
Vowels
- a - [a]
- i - [i]
- u - [u]
- aa - [aː]
- ii - [iː]
- uu - [uː]
Consonants
- b - [b]
- d - [d]
- dy - [dʲ]
- g - [g]
- j - [d͡ʑ]
- k - [k]
- l - [l]
- ly - [lʲ]
- m - [m]
- n - [n]
- ny - [nʲ]
- ng - [ŋ]
- p - [p]
- r - [ɾ]
- rd - [ɖ]
- rl - [ɭ]
- rn - [ɲ]
- rr - [ɻ]
- rry - [rʲ]
- rt - [ʈ]
- t - [t]
- ty - [tʲ]
- w - [w]
- y - [j]
- ' - [ʔ]
Grammar
There is no noun class in Yawuru. Adverbs belong to the same class as nominals. There is a verb class. Nouns and adjectives are distinguished through semantic context.
Morphology
Nominals inflect for case and adverbs, belonging to this class, take case markers. Case markers are signified by enclitics. Nominals do not have a declension class. Verbs inflect to denote person, number, tense, mood, and aspect. Prefixes, suffixes, and enclitics are used to conjugate verbs.
There are four person categories in Yawuru: first person, second person, third person, and fourth person, which is made up by a first person inclusive (includes the speaker and the hearer).
Syntax
Word order is flexible, with the verb often preceding the subject.
Vocabulary
Yawuru has a large borrowing from neighbouring Pama-Nyungan languages. The vocabulary is specifically strong in terms of environment, reflecting on the culture.
References
References
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). "Cultural diversity: Census".
- This map is indicative only.
- Yawuru Ngan-ga, a Phrasebook of the Yawuru Language, Magabala, 1995.
- "Yawuru Language".
- Hosokawa, K. (1991). "The Yawuru Language of West Kimberly: a meaning based description". Australian National University.
- "Yawuru language and alphabet".
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