Mpakwithi
Anguthimri
RegionCape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia
Extinct1985[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3awg
Glottologangu1242
AIATSIS[2]Y186

Mpakwithi is an extinct Australian Aboriginal dialect of Queensland.

Classification

Mpakwithi is generally regarded as a dialect of a broader Anguthimri language, which is part of the Northern Paman family.

Phonology

Vowels

Front Back
Close i iː ĩ y u uː
Close-mid e eː ẽ (ø) o
Open-mid æ æː æ̃
Low a aː ã

/ø/ is found in only one word.

Mpakwithi has the most vowels of any Australian language, with 16–17. It also is the only Australian language to have nasal vowels.

Consonants

While other Anguthimri dialects and Northern Paman languages have three fricatives, ð ɣ/, Mpakwithi has a fourth, /ʒ/. Its origin is uncertain. This is an extremely rare sound in Australian languages.

Peripheral Laminal Apical Glottal
Bilabial Velar Palatal Dental Alveolar/
Retroflex
Post-
alveolar
Plosives voiceless p k c t t̠ʳ ʔ
prenasal ᵐb ᵑɡ ᶮɟ ⁿ̪d̪ ⁿd ⁿd̠ʳ
Fricatives voiced β ɣ ʒ ð
voiceless (ʃ) (s)
Nasals m ŋ ɲ n
Rhotics ɻ ɾ
Approximants w j l

The flap /ɾ/ may occasionally also be heard as a trill [r].

Sounds [s, ʃ] may also occur, but only rarely and in a small amount of words. The phonemic status is uncertain.

References

  1. Mpakwithi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. Y186 Mpakwithi at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  • Crowley, T. (1981). "The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri". In Dixon, R. M. W.; Blake, B. J. (eds.). Handbook of Australian Languages. Vol 2. Canberra and Amsterdam: Australian National University Press and John Benjamins. pp. 146–194.
  • Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


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