Anindilyakwa language
Anindilyakwa is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Warnindhilyagwa people on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. A 2001 Australian government study identified more than 1000 speakers of the language, although there are reports of as many as three thousand. In the 2016 census, around 1500 people said they spoke Anindilyakwa.
Anindilyakwa may be most closely related to Nunggubuyu, on the adjacent mainland, but that is yet to be confirmed.
Names
Spellings of the name include:- Andiljangwa
- Andilyaugwa
- Anindilyakwa
- Aninhdhilyagwa
- Enindiljaugwa
- Enindhilyagwa
- Wanindilyaugwa
Classification
Once considered a family level isolate, Van Egmond has demonstrated Anindilyakwa to be part of the Eastern branch of the Gunwinyguan family, relating it to Nunggubuyu and Ngandi, using correspondences between core vocabulary, verbal morphological forms, phonemes, and verbal inflectional paradigms.Phonology
Vowels
The analysis of Anindilyakwa's vowels is open to interpretation. Stokes analyses it as having four phonemic vowels,. Leeding analyses it as having just two,.Consonants
Phonotactics
All Anindilyakwa words end in a vowel. Clusters of up to three consonants can occur within words.Grammar
Noun classes
Anindilyakwa has five noun classes, or genders, each marked by a prefix:- Human male
- Non-human male
- Female
- Inanimate "lustrous", with the prefix a-.
- Inanimate "non-lustrous", with the prefix mwa-.
All native nouns carry a class prefix, but some loanwords may lack them.
Numerals
According to Stokes the language traditionally had numerals up to twenty but since the introduction of English, English words are now used almost exclusively for numbers above five.Adjectives
Size degrees is done in two grades the positive and a diminutive, although reduplication of this word is possible for an intensifying effect.Example
This song is a translation of the church song "This is the day", sung by the local churchgoers in the community of Angurugu. The spelling and translation requires confirmation.| Anindilyakwa | Approximate translation |
| Mema mamawurra Ngumanekburrakama God Narriyekiyerra, Akuwerikilyelyingmajungwuna Narriyekiyerra Akuwerikilyelyingmajungwuna | This day Made by God We will rejoice and be glad in it This is the day made by God We will rejoice in it |