Yawuru
Region	Australia
Ethnicity	Yawuru, Jukun
Native speakers	152 (2021 census)[1]
Language family	Nyulnyulan Eastern Yawuru
Dialects	Julbayi Marangan Jukun
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ywr
Glottolog	yawu1244
AIATSIS[2]	K1
ELP	Yawuru
Map of the traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around Derby, Western Australia. Yawuru is the dark blue.[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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:^[6]

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

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.

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