Sounds and Spelling of Arabana - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Sounds and Spelling of Arabana

Ref:

Hercus

,

Luise

(1994) ‘A Grammar of the

Arabana-Wangkangurru

Language, Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia’

Eleanor McCall (Mobile Language Team)

Sept 2017Slide2

The three ‘r’s

r

, r, and rrSlide3

r

The

r

represents the retroflex.

Similar to ‘ba

r

n’ said in an American accent

Tip of the tongue curls back in the mouth

r

rr

a

r

ayi

(yes)wara (how/what)

The r represents the tap. Similar to ‘ladder’ said quickly

ngurku (good)tharkarnda (standing

Tip of the tongue taps lightly onto the ridge behind the front teeth

The rr represents the trill.

Similar to ‘ladder’ said quickly and more drawn out like Spanish rolled r

Same tongue placement as r

Roll the tongue more

arru (hello)yakarra (teethSlide4

‘th’, ‘

nh

’, ‘

lh

’

vs. ‘t’, ‘n’, ‘l’What’s the difference between these sounds?Slide5

th

The

th

represents the interdental.

This sound is not used English.

It

does not

sound like ‘thanks’ in English.

Tip of the tongue pokes through the teeth

t

th

anth

i (grandfather, grandchild)antha

(I)The t represents the alveolarThis sounds the same as an English ‘t’, as in ‘time’ and can sound like a ‘d’ at times as in ‘d

og’

anti (soon)nyinta (plants)

Tip of the tongue touches the ridge behind the front teeth Slide6

nh

The

nh

represents the interdental.

This sound does not exist in English.

Tip of the tongue pokes through the teeth

n

nh

a

nh

irnda

(looking)nh

iki (this)

The n represents the alveolarThis sounds the same as an English ‘n’, as in ‘nice’

anpa (you)a

ntha (I) Tip of the tongue touches the ridge behind the front teeth Slide7

lh

The

lh

represents the interdental.

This sound does not exist in English.

Tip of the tongue pokes through the teeth

l

lh

uka

(mother)

wad

lhu (earth)

The l represents the alveolar

This sounds the same as an English ‘l’, as in ‘love’

tyalpa (vegetable food)mil

tyaardi (eye)Tip of the tongue touches the ridge behind the front teeth Slide8

Other sounds in ArabanaSlide9

ly

These

two letters stand for one sound.

Sounds like

mi

ll

ion.

Not like silly.ty

ny

ngadlyuru (green)

These two letters stand for one sound. Sounds like trudg

e. Not like naughty

.

intyara (where)

Tip of the tongue pokes through the front teethThese

two letters stand for one sound. Sounds like canyon. Not like pony.

Middle of the tongue goes to the top of the mouth

*These three sounds all have the same ‘

alveodental’ tongue positionnyilkaru (slowly)Slide10

Tip of the tongue curls back in the mouth

rd

These

are two letters that stand for one sound. As in

quan

d

ong

but with the tip of your tongue curled up and back in your mouth.

rnrl

thangkard

a (sitting)These are two letters that stand for one sound. Sounds like a

nother, but with the tip of your tongue curled up and back in your mouth.

These are two letters that stand for one sound. As in pill

ow, but with the tip of your tongue curled up and back in your mouth.nharla (person)

*These three sounds all have the same ‘retroflex’ tongue position

yukarnda (going)Slide11

ng

Back of the tongue presses against the back of the throat

Sounds like the ‘ng’ in ‘si

ng

’

wa

ng

ka

(language, word)

ngurku (good)Slide12

p - as in s

p

ark. This sound

can sometimes be more like a

‘p’ (

pass) and sometimes more like a ‘b’ (but)

pantyaardi (knee)m- as in m

ad madla (dog, ugly)k- as in skate. This sound can sometimes be more like a ‘k’ (

kite) and sometimes more like a ‘g’ (gate)

kudnaardi (stomach)y- as in

yellow yalka (bush onion)w- as in

wing wangka

(language, word)Slide13

Vowels ‘a, i, u’

Arabana

has three vowels:

‘a’ which sounds like f

ather. It does not sound like b

at m

ara (hand)‘i’ which sounds like beat. It does not sound like hi

t pitha (box-tree)‘u’ which sounds like p

ut. It does not sound like but

kupa (small)Note: Sometimes you will see ‘aa’, this is to represent a ‘k’ deletion (i.e.

pantyaardi=pantya(k)ardi

). It sounds the same as ‘a’ but slightly longer.Slide14

Pre-stopping ‘b’ and ‘d’

‘b’ and ‘d’ are used in

Arabana

specifically to represent a special sound feature called ‘pre-stopping’. Pre-stopping is really

unique

and it is only found a small handful of languages in the world!b

b is occasionally used before m to show pre-stopping. It is not used in any other places, except for the language name itself '

Arabana'wabmara (wind)ku

bmarri (blood)dd

is occasionally used before n, nh, ny, l,

lh, ly to show pre-stopping. It is not used in any other places. pidla

 (name)kudnala (sleep)Slide15

Here are all of the sounds in Arabana

r

,r,rr

th

,

nh, lh ty, ny

, lyrd, rn,

rlngp, m, w, y, t, n, l, kb, da, i, u