Structure dataset 72: Gurindji Kriol

This language is described more fully in survey chapter 72.

Gurindji Kriol is a mixed language derived from Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan) and Kriol (English-lexifier). It is spoken in the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory (Australia) by around 1000 people, mostly Gurindji people under the age of 40 who live in the Aboriginal community of Kalkaringi, but also Bilinarra and Ngarinyman people who live in the neighbouring communities of Pigeon Hole and Yarralin to the north of Kalkaringi. It is also spoken by diaspora groups living in the towns of Katherine (480km north-east of Kalkaringi) and Darwin (900km north-east of Kalkaringi). The default lect described in APiCS is the speech of 20-30 year old Gurindji women living in Kalkaringi. All examples are derived from a corpus collected by Felicity Meakins from 2004-2009. Gurindji Kriol remains an oral language only, with schooling, media and government services almost entirely in Standard Australian English (with provisions for interpreters). Older Gurindji people continue to speak traditional Gurindji, often in code-switching with Kriol. Kriol is the main language spoken by Aboriginal people across northern Australia including in Katherine and Darwin, and has a continuing influence on Gurindji Kriol, particularly in these towns.

Glossed text (74.8KB, application/pdf)
No. Feature Value Details Source
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Consonants

Pulmonic Consonants
Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal
↓ Manner Bilabial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Palato-
alveolar
Retroflex Alveolo-
palatal
Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal
/ Epiglottal
Glottal
Nasal m n ɳ ɲ ŋ
Stop p b t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k g
Sibilant affricate
Non-sibilant affricate
Sibilant fricative s z ʃ
Non-sibilant fricative f v θ ð
Approximant l ɭ j
Flap or tap ɾ
Trill r
Lateral affricate
Lateral fricative
Lateral approximant
Lateral flap
Implosive

Vowels

Front Near-front Central Near-back Back Close Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open ihigh front unrounded vowel uhigh back rounded vowel ʊlowered high back rounded vowel ɛlower mid front unrounded vowel ɔlower mid back rounded vowel æraised low front unrounded vowel alow central unrounded vowel
Vowels

Special segments

Other segments
 w  voiced labial-velar glide

Legend

       Exists (as a major allophone)
       Exists only as a minor allophone
       Exists only in loanwords
No. Feature Value Details Source