Kala Lagaw Ya (correctly Kalaw Lagaw Ya [back/west+gen place+gen speech]; several other names; see below) is a language spoken on all the western and central Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia. On some islands it has now largely been replaced by Brokan (Torres Strait Creole English). It has the highest speaker population of any indigenous language within Australian territory, with between 3000 and 4000 people speaking the language (Ethnologue).

Before Colonisation in the 1870s-1880s, it was the major lingua franca of the area in both Australia and Papua, and is still widely spoken by neighbouring Papuans. It also has a pidginised form, partially creolised by some younger people on Badhu (Kala Lagaw Ya territory).

Names

The language is known by several names besides Kalaw Lagaw Ya, most of which (including Kalaw Lagaw Ya), are strictly speaking names of dialects, spelling variants, dialect variants, and the like - including translations of the English terms, Western Island Language and Central Island Language. The following list includes most of the commonest:

• Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalau Kawau Ya [Western Island Language], Lagaw Ya/Lagau Ya [Home/(Home) Island Language], Kala Lagaw Langgus/Kala Lagau Langgus [Western (Home) Island Language], Kalaw Kawaw Langgus/Kalau Kawau Langgus [Western Island Language], Kalaw Lagaw Ya[Western (Home) Island Language], Langus [Language], Kawalgaw Ya [Islanders' Language], Kowrareg (strictly speaking name of the Kaurareg ['Islander'] person, not the language, which is/was Kauraregau Ya [Islanders' Language]), Kulkalgau Ya [Blood-Peoples' Language (Kulka 'Blood' was an important cult figure)], Mabuiag (the name of one of the islands where it is spoken), Westen or West Torres or Western Torres Strait, Dhadhalagau Ya [Mid-Island/Central Island Language], Sentrel or Central Islands, as opposed to Isten or Esten or East Torres which is the Meriam language (sometimes called by other Islanders and neighbouring Papuans Able Able, from the Meriam word able this, that, in reference to). One term used by Eastern islanders and neighbouring Papuans for Kala Lagaw Ya is Yagar Yagar, from the word yagar (yá speech, etc. + gár sympathy clitic (dear, please, etc.), often used by Western-central Islanders in speech to show a sympathetic or nostalgic frame of mind.

In literature on the language the abbreviations KLY (Kalaw Lagaw Ya), KKY (Kalau Kawau Ya), KulY (Kulkalgau Ya) and KY (Kawalgau Ya) are often used as abbreviations. In English, the best and most neutral term is The Western and Central Torres Strait Language.

When speaking to each other, speakers generally refer to the language as Langgus 'Language' or Ngalpun Ya (in the KKY dialect Ngalpan Ya) 'Our Speech'.

Geographic distribution

Map of the Torres Strait Islands.

Kala Lagaw Ya is spoken on all of the western and central islands of Torres Strait, between Papua New Guinea and the Australian mainland, though on some islands it has now been replaced by Brokan (Torres Strait Creole). Before Colonisation in the 1870s-1880s, the language was the major lingua franca of the area in both Australia and Papua. A pidgin form of the language also exists.

The other languages spoken in the Torres Strait Islands are the Meriam language (also known as East Torres), and Torres Strait Creole.

Classification

Kalaw Lagaw Ya is considered to be an Australian language of the Pama-Nyungan family. However, some (Capell 1956, Dixon 2002) regard it as a Papuan language with an Australian substratum, though their reasoning is obscure. Mitchell 1995 produces evidence that it is a mixed language with Australian and Papuan backgrounds and an Austronesian overlay. The basic characteristics of the language, however, are Australian; the personal pronouns, for example, are all typically Australian, though on the other hand most kin terms are not.

Kalaw Lagaw Ya has only 6% cognation with its closest Australian neighbour, Urradhi - and about 25% common vocabulary with its Papuan neighbour, Meriam Mìr. Where vocabulary is concerned, potentially 80% of the vocabulary of the language is non-Australian, and includes Papuan and Austronesian items (Mitchell 1995).

Dialects

There are four main dialects, two of which are on probably the verge of extinction. Within the dialects there are two or more subdialects. The average mutual intelligibility rate is around 97%.

• Northern dialect : Kalau Kawau Ya - Saibai (Saibai Village and Aith, also Bamaga/Seisia on Cape York), D?wan (Dauan), B?igu (Boigu)
• Western dialect : Kalaw Lagaw Ya - Mabuyag (Mabuiag) and Badhu (Badu)
• Eastern dialect (Central Island dialect) : Kulkalgau Ya - Yama, Waraber, Puruma, Masig and associated islands, now uninhabited, such as Nagi and Gebar
• Southern Dialect (South-West Islands) : Kawalgau Ya [Kauraraigau Ya] - Muralag, Ng?rupai (alt. Ngurupai, N?rupai, Nurupai) and the other islands of the Thursday Island group, Mua (alt. Moa), Muri (Mt Adolphus - now uninhabited).

The Southern dialect has certain characteristics that link it closely to the northern dialect, and Muralag folk history reflects this, in that the ancestors of the Kowrareg (the Hiamo) originally came from Dharu (Daru, to the north east of Torres Strait) - and who had previously settled on Dharu from Yama in Central Torres Strait [get reference].

Samples of the dialects

When Mum went home, she gave Dad the knife.

Kalau Kawau Ya: Ama na' lagapa uzarima nanga, nadh Babalpa gi [alt. upi] manu [alt. maninu].

Kalaw Lagaw Ya: Ama na' mudhaka uzarima nanga, nadh Babanika gi [alt. upi, thurik] manu.

Kulkalgau Ya: Ama na' mudhaka uzarima/uzarimò nanga, nadh Babanika gi [alt. upi, thurik] manu.

Kawalgau Ya: Ama na' lagapa uzarima nanga, nadha Babanipa gi [alt. upi, thurik] manul.

(Old Kawalgau Ya (Kowrareg): *Ama na' lagapa[rri] uzarrima nanga, nadhu Babanipa[rri] gi[ri] [alt. upi, thurrika] manulai.)

and... simplified ('pidgin') Kalaw Lagaw Ya

Ama na' mudh ka uzari, nadh Baban ka gi [alt. upi, thurik] mani.

Dialect differences

1) Phonology:

Phonological differences between the dialects are amazingly rare ? and in general sporadic. The only regular dialect differences are the following:

a) Colloquial final unstressed vowel elision in Kulkalgau Ya and Kawalgau Ya:

maalu sea > maal?

waapi fish > waap?

thathi father > thath?

waaru turtle > waar?

ngadha appearance, looks > ngadh?

m?ràpi bamboo (à shows the stressed syllable) > m?ràp?

bera rib > ber?

kaba dance performance > kab?

b) Final vowel unstressed vowel devoicing and deletion in Kalaw Lagaw Ya

In Kalaw Lagaw Ya, such final vowels in correct language are devoiced, and deleted in colloquial language, except in a small class of words which include bera rib, where there is a short vowel in the stem and in which the final vowel is permanently deleted, with compensatory lengthening of the final consonant (thus berr).

Strictly speaking, the process is not final vowel devoicing, but rather stressed vowel lengthening accompanied by final vowel devoicing ? except in the case of words such as bera rib > berr, where the process is final consonant lengthening by the final vowel being 'incorporated' into the consonant. Note that in the following the word-final capital letter represents a devoiced vowel:

maalu sea > maalU > maal?

waapi fish > waapI > waap?

thaathi father > thaathI > thaath?

waaru turtle > waarU > waar?

ngadha appearance, looks > ngaadhA > ngaadh?

m?ràpi bamboo (àà shows the stressed syllable) > m?rààpI > m?rààp?

bera rib > berr

kaba dance performance > kabb

In declined forms of such words, the long vowel is shortened, and the final vowel voiced, and in words like ber rib the final vowel often reappears:

maalU sea + ka dative > maluka

waapI fish > wapika

thaathI father > thathika

waarU turtle > waruka

ngaadhA appearance, looks > ngadhaka

m?rààpI bamboo > m?ràpika

ber rib > beraka, berka

kab dance performance > kabaka, kabka

This vowel shortening in affixed/modified forms exists in all dialects, however the other dialects have retained contrastive length to some extent, whereas Kalaw Lagaw Ya has largely lost it for ?morphophonological? length, where the stressed vowel in words of one or two syllables is automatically lengthened in the nominative-accusative; this also applies to words of three syllables with second syllable stress (as in m?rààpI bamboo).

One of the very few length contrasts in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect is kaabA knot in bamboo etc. vs kab dance performance (kab in Old Kawalgaw Ya was k?Raba, and ?Ra has regularly given short a in Kalaw Lagaw Ya); such length contrasts are more widespread in the other dialects.

The exceptions are (1) the small class or words that include ber rib and kab dance performance, and (2) emotive words. Emotive words are those that equate to a certain extent to diminutives in languages such as Irish, Dutch and German, where specific suffixes are added to show 'diminutive' status (-ín, -Cje and -chen respectively). Emotive words in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect include familiar kinship terms [the equivalent of English Mum, Dad and the like] and words used in emotive contexts such as singing/poetry.

c) Kalau Kawau Ya final i-glide deletion

A small class of words in KKY lose the final i-glide found in the other dialects, including the following:

banana plant : KLY/KulY/KY dawai, KKY dawa

spot, stain : KLY/KulY/KY burkui (b?rkui), KKY b?rku (burku)

blank skink : KLY/KulY/KY mogai, KKY Saibai/D?wan mogo, B?igu moga

old : KLY/KulY/KY kulbai, KKY kulba

a short while, first before doing something else : KLY/KulY/KY mamui, KKY mamu

birth cord : KLY/KulY/KY kùpai, KKY kùpa

Word forms in neighbouring languages, such as the Meriam Mìr kopor birth cord suggest that in such words the final -i/Ø originate in older *?.

2) Syntax

The main syntactic differences are:

a) Verb negative construction:

In all dialects except Kalau Kawau Ya, the verb negative is the nominalised privative form of the verbal noun. As this form in itself a noun, its subject and direct object are cast in the genitive:

Ngath waapi purthanu I ate a fish

Ngai stuwaka uzarima I went to the store

Ngau wapiu purthaiginga I didn?t eat a fish

Ngau stuwaka uzaraiginga I didn?t go to the store

The Kalau Kawau Ya dialect uses the verbal noun privative form as an invariable verb negative:

Ngath waapi purthanu I ate a fish

Ngai stuwapa uzarima I went to the store

Ngath waapi purthaiginga I didn?t eat a fish

Ngai stuwapa uzaraiginga I didn?t go to the store

b) Verb Tenses/Aspects

The Kalau Kawau Ya dialect has the tenses and aspects listed in the section on verb morphology. The other dialects have largely lost the remote future tense, using the habitual instead; the Kalaw lagaw Ya dialect also has a 'last night' tense, where the adverb bungil (other dialects bongel used in conjunction with either the today past or the recent past) last night has become grammaticalised as a verb ending, following the example of the adverb ngùl yesterday, which had previously become grammaticalised as a 'recent past' tense marker in all dialects, with reduction to -ngu in the Kalau kawau Ya dialect.

c) Nominal Affixes

The main nominal affix difference is the dative ending, which has the following forms in the various dialects:

KLY/KulY -ka; -pa with kipa to here and sipa to there; -pa sometimes in poetry/singing

KY -pa; -ka in ngaikika to/for/towards me; -ka often in poetry/singing.

KKY -pa in all cases; -ka often in poetry/singing.

d) Vocabulary

The main differences between the dialects are to do with vocabulary, as can be seen in the following examples:

house/building : KLY mùùdha (laaga), KulY mùdh (laag), KY laag (mùdh), KKY laag

mud : KLY/KulY/KY berdhar (s??ya sandy mud/silt), KKY s??i (berdhar softness of food, mud, etc.)

grandad : KLY/KulY/KY athe, KKY pòpu

frog : KLY/KulY k?taaka, k?tak, KY kat, KLY (Saibai-D?wan) kat, (B?igu) k?teku

axe : KLY/KulY/KY aga, KKY agathurik (thurik cutting tool)

namesake : KLY/KulY natham, KKY/KY nasem

small, little : KLY/KulY/KY m?gi, Saibai/D?wan m?gina, B?igu m?gina, k?thuka

woman, female : KKY yipkaz/y?pkaz [stem yipkazi-/y?pkazi-], KLY/KulY ipikaz (KLY variant iipka) [stem ipkazi-], KY ipkai [stem ipkazi-]

man, male : KKY garkaz [stem garkazi-], KLY/KulY garka [stem garkazi-], KY garkai [stem garkazi-]

unmarried young/teenage woman : KKY ngawakaz [stem ngawakazi-], KLY/KulY ngawka/ngoka [stem ngawkazi-/ngokazi-], KY ngawakai [stem ngawakazi-]

song : KLY naawu (plural nawul], KulY nawu (plural nawulai), KY nawu (plural nawul), KKY na (plural nathai)

moon, month : KLY kisaayi, poetry m?lpal, KulY/KY kiisay, poetry m?lpal, KKY m?lpal, poetry kiisay

Pronouns

Below is a comparison of the pronouns of Kala Lagaw Ya with those reconstructed for Proto-Pama-Nyungan, as well with Meriam and Gizra (a language spoken in Papua New Guinea), from Evans (2005).

Note: the 1st person dual and plural persons appear to have the following CA origins:

CA ngali > ngalpa you and I/we, ngalbai/ngalbe we two (not you), ng?y [stem: ng?lmu-, ng?imu-] we, not you

CA ngana+pulV > ng?ba you and I

Phonology

Kala Lagaw Ya is the only Australian language to have the alveolar fricatives and . However, these have allophones variants and , normally found in Australia languages (but non-contrasting). These latter two are allophones in that in all environments /s/ and /z/ can appear, while and can not appear at the end of a word. All the stops, except for the alveolars t and d, have fricative allophones, thus p can be [p] or [?], k can be [k] or [x], b [b] or [?], and so on. Furthermore, it is one of the few Australian languages with fully functioning voiced-voiceless distinctions (p/b, t/d, s/z, k/g, th/dh) - and one of the few without reflexive stops.

The language is also one of the few Australian languages with only one rhotic, one l and one n. The earliest recorded dialect, Kawalgau Ya (Kauraraigau Ya / Kowrareg), however, did have two rhotics, the tap and the glide; the glide rhotic has in general become /j/, /w/ or zero in the other dialects (and Modern Kawalgau Ya), rarely /r/. Neighbouring languages retain an /r/ in related words, such as;

sayima outrigger : Old Kawalgaw Ya sarima, Kiwai (Papua) harima, Gudang (Australia) charima

babath opposite-sex sibling : Old Kawalgau Ya b?rabatha, Meriam Mìr berbet sibling.

Interestingly enough, in singing, s, z and r are pronounced [s], [z] and [?] (the glide), and virtually never as , and .

Consonants:

labial : p, b, m, w

dental : th, dh, n, l

alveolar : t, d, r

alveo-palatal : s, z, y

velar : k, g, ng

Vowels (length is to a certain extent contrastive, and partly allophonic):

+high,-mid,-round i, ii

+high,+mid,-round e, ee

+high,+mid,+round ù, ùù [long version only found in Kala Lagaw Ya]

+high,-mid,+round u, uu

The +/-round contrast is reminiscent of Papuan phonology.

The mid long vowels are allophonic variants of the mid short vowels that are in the process of developing phonemic status, while the short vowel ò is similarly in origin an allophone of òò.

The language undergoes low-level vowel shifts, caused by stress domination within clauses. Long vowels are shortened, and short vowels raise when the word is preceded by morphemes such as adjectives, demonstrative articles, prefixes and the like; the changes also change within words when these are suffixed:

laag place - senabi lag that place

lagal places - sethabi l?gal those places (also sethabi lagal)

m?rap bamboo - m?r?pil bamboo plants/poles/sticks (also m?rapil)

guul sailing canoe - senaubi gul that canoe

thonaral times - sethabi thunaral those times (also sethabi thonaral)

zageth work - zagithapa to/for work [dative] (also zagethapa) (zageth is a compound of za thing + geth hand)

The processes are low-level in that they are not 'automatic' - the changes do not have to occur and can be consciously 'blocked'. In normal speech, vowel shortening and the change of a to ? are the norm, which the changes of e to i and o to u are sporadic, and most common in unstressed syllables.

Assimilation of vowels to other vowels in the vicinity and consonants is also wide-spread, particularly of the vowel ?:

w?rab coconut - wurab

y?lpai lead [verbal noun] - yilpai

ng?nu whose - ngunu

k?u belonging to here - kou

ng?ba you and I - ngaba

Internal reconstruction and comparison with neighbouring languages suggests an underlying four vowel structure with contrasting vowel length, where underlying i gives surface i and e, underlying a gives surface a and ?, underlying ò gives surface o and ù, and underlying u gives surface ù and u:

Underlying vowels:

+high :- -round i, ii +round u, uu

-high :- -round a, aa +round o, oo

Nominal morphology

Where the morphology is concerned, the language is somewhere along the continuum between agglutinative and declining. Nominals have the following cases: nominative, accusative, instrumental (subsumes ergative), dative (subsumes allative), ablative, specific locative, nonspecific locative (subsumes perlative), global locative. Nominals also have the following derived forms: negative, similative, 'HAVE'-form (which also forms the noun nominative-accusative plural) and resultative. All stems end in a vowel or a semi-vowel, except for a few monosyllables ending in -r and -l (which includes a very few reduplicated words, like tharthar boiling, seething, as well as ngipel you two [a compound of ngi you [singular] and -pal two]). For many nouns the surface nominative(-accusative) undergoes a final stem-vowel deletion rule; in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya dialect the rule results in final devoiced vowels accompanied by main vowel lengthening. There are three numbers, singular, dual and plural. Singular and dual are the same form in all nominals except the personal pronouns, while plural only is distinguished in the nominative-accusative - except for the personal pronouns, where the difference in number is shown by the stem.

There are two nominal classes, Common Nominals (common nouns, demonstratives, locative/temporal/etc. adverbs) and Proper Nominals (Proper names [personal names, boat names, emotive kinship terms], pronouns). The major difference between the two classes are 1) semantic - Proper Nominals have pronominal characteristics, and, 2) declensional, such as the fact that Proper Nominals do not distinguish the three locative cases.

Note that the following are in the Kalau Kawau Ya dialect.

Common nominal declensions

There are few irregular nouns, the most common being

(1) ái food, yá speech, language, message, etc., li basket, lú mound, bump, hump

instrumental aidu, yadu, lidu, ludu specific locative/HAVE-plural aidai/aide, yadai, lidai, ludai

(2) ná song

instrumental nathu specific locative/HAVE-plural nathai.

(3) zá thing, object, matter, etc.

This word has a fuller stem form, zapu-, which appears in certain forms:

instrumental zapun genitive zapu HAVE-plural zapul

In the locative forms both stems (za- and zapu-) appear:

specific locative zanu, zapunu, etc.

(4) g?iga sun, day; bireg/bereg shelf

The stems of these words have different forms to the nominative-accusative-

g?iga - stem:g?ig?yi-, g?igi-; bireg/bereg - stem:b?reigi-

Demonstratives

The language has a closed class of demonstrative morphemes with special morphological characteristics:

Prefixes:

pi there in the distance in a specific position

kai there in the distance in a non-specific position

Stems:

ka, í here, this

se/si there, that (not too far away)

gui, mulu/ngùl down there

ka, karai/kadai up there (variant forms of the one underlying stem)

ngapa there beyond

pai, pa, paipa ahead there, up close there (variant forms of the one underlying stem *pai)

pun[i], pawa off from there, back from there, back over there, back there (possibly variant forms of the one underlying stem)

These demonstratives (as stem forms) can have masculine, feminine and non-singular forms (and as such are pronominal) as well as case forms. Í here, this and se/si there, that (not too far away) take the gender/number morphemes as suffixes, and the other demonstratives take them as prefixes. Note that ka non-specifically here and kai there in the distance in a non-specific position cannot appear with the gender/number morphemes, as these latter are specific by their nature. Í and se/si also take an article forming affix -bi to become demonstrative articles (e.g. senaubi kaz that boy, senabi kaz that girl, sepalbi kaz those two children, sethabi k?zil those children.)

Ka, í and se/si:

Other demonstratives:

Pronouns : singular

Note that the third person pronouns are also used as definite articles, e.g. Nuidh gark?zin nan yipkaz imadhin The man saw the woman.

Personal pronouns : dual

Ngawal who two is constructed from nga who plus the clitic -wal both, and two (dual conjunction).

Personal pronouns : plural

Ngaya who many is constructed from nga who plus the clitic -ya and others (plural conjunction).

Personal names and familiar kinship terms (Familiar kinship terms are the equivalent of English kin terms such as Dad and Mum, while non-familiar terms are the equivalent of Father and Mother; these latter are treated as common nouns in the language)

Verb morphology

Verbs can have over 100 different aspect, tense, voice, mood and number forms. Verb agreement is with the object (i.e. 'ergative') in transitive clauses, and with the subject in intransitive clauses. Imperatives, on the other hand, agree with both subject and object in transitive clauses.

There are three aspects (perfective, imperfective, habitual), two voices (active [which focuses on the verb activity and subsumes many intransitives, many antipassives and some transitives] and attainative [which subsumes many transitives, some antipassives and some intransitives]), two moods (non-imperative and imperative [which resembles a subjunctive in some uses], 6 tenses (remote future, today future, present, today past, recent past, remote past) and four numbers (singular, dual, specific plural, animate active plural - in form the animate active plural is the same as the singular, and is only found on certain verbs).

In most descriptions of the language the active and attainative voices have been mistakenly termed transitive and intransitive respectively. The terms transitive and intransitive in the language refer to syntactic voice marking properties of the clause, and interplay with passive, antipassive and 'antipassive passive'.

Morphology consists of prefixes (aspect, positioning, etc.), suffixes (voice, number, and two fossilised multiplicative/causative suffixes) and endings (tense, aspect and mood). The structural matrix of a verb is :

(prefix)+(prefix)+stem(+FOSSILISED SUFFIX)+(VOICE)+(number)+ending(+ending).

Example:

pabalkabuthamadhin two were laid down across something [which would clear in the context]

pabalkabuthemadhin two went and lay down across something [which would clear in the context]'

prefix: pa- completive

prefix: bal- positional - across

stem: kabutha- place, lay

voice suffix: -Ø attainative, -i active

number suffix: -ma dual

tense-aspect ending: -dhin remote past perfective

Sample verb declension : íma- see, observe, supervise, examine, try, test

Tensed forms

Non-tensed forms

Nominalised forms

Miscellaneous Paradigms

Three paradigms that have irregular morphology are:

Si[ ]kai Perhaps/Maybe/Possibly (in all dialects except Kalau Kawau Ya ? which has invariable sike, sikedh)

masculine sinukai/senukai, feminine sinakai/senakai, general (singular, dual, plural) sikai

Goodbye

Singular yawa, Non-singular yawal

Hey! (attention seeker)

mas. kame, kamedh, fem. kake, kakedh, non-singular kole, koledh

In sikedh, kamedh, kakedh and koledh, the -dh final is only found in more emphatic use.

Orthography

There is no strict standard spelling, and three slightly different orthographies (and often mixes of them) are in use.

The three spelling systems used for the language:

Loyalty Islands missionaries (established 1870s) : a, b, d, e, g, i, j, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ö, p, r, s, t, u, z, sometimes also th, dh, dth, tr, dr, oe, ë, w, y, j, and sometimes double vowels to show length. This spelling system was strongly inspired by the one used for the drehu (Lifu) language in the very early period, though later with the change of non-European Mission personnel from Lifu to Polynesian, as well as the growing number of indigenous Torres Strait missionaries, the spelling system lost the overtly Drehu forms tr, dr and ë which had no phonological basis in Kala Lagaw Ya. The mission system is the orthography used in the Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to the Torres Strait (Haddon et.al, 1898 and on, University of Cambridge) and in "Myths and Legends of Torres Strait" (Lawrie, University of Queensland, 1971).

Klokheid and Bani(established 1970s) : a, aa, b, d (alveolar), dh (dental), e, ee, g, i, ii, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oo,oe (/?/), ooe (/?:/), p, r, s, t (alveolar), th (dental), u, uu, w, y, z

Saibai, Boigu, Dauan students (established late 1970s) : a, b, d (alveolar), dh (dental), e, g, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, oe (/?/), p, r, s, t (alveolar), th (dental), u, w, y, z (vowel length is not represented).

People not only use these three slightly differing spelling systems, but they also write words more or less as they pronounce them. Because of this words are often spelt in various ways, for example sena/sina that, there, kothai/kothay/kothei/kothey/kothe back of head, occiput. Variation like this depends on age, family, island, and other factors such as poetic speech. It can be difficult at times to decide which is most correct - different people have different opinions (and sometimes have very strong opinions).

Though in general the pronunciation of older people has priority, some people can actually get quite offended if they think the language is written the ?wrong? way. Some insist that the mission spelling should be used, others the Bani spelling, and still others the KKY (Saibai etc.) spelling, and still again others use mixes of two or three, or adaptations thereof. Some writers of the Mabuiag-Badhu dialect (Kala Lagaw Ya), for example, write mainly in the Mission system, sometimes use the diagraphs oe, th, dh (variant dth) and sometimes use capital letters at the ends of words to show devoiced vowels, such as ngukI fresh water/drinking water, fruit juice /??:ki?/. In the Bani/Klokheid orthograophy nguki is written nguuki, and in the other dialects the final vowel is fully voiced (nguki /??ki/).

The biggest bone of contention between the advocates of the 'modern' orthographies and the 'traditionalist' orthographies is the use of w and y to show the semi-vowels (or semi-consonants if you prefer). In general native speakers in literacy classes seem to find y and w very difficult to learn, and that u and i are the 'logical' letters to use. Getting untrained speakers to break up words by sound or syllable suggests that u and i are really the underlying sounds. Thus, a word like ulaipa/ulaypa am/is/are going/continuing/happening [singular] syllabifies as u-la-i-pa, not u-lai-pa. Furthermore, in songs, u and i can also be given full syllable status. 'Historical' considerations also point to the semi-vowels often being vocalic rather than consonantal. Thus, ulaipa is in underlying form w?lama+i+pa - the stem of the verb is w?lama- (dual w?lmema-, remote past singular w?lmaidhin, etc.). The -i- in ulaipa is a separate morpheme (the active voice suffix).

A dictionary now in preparation (Mitchell/Ober) uses a orthography based on detailed study of the surface and underlying phonology of the language, as well as on observation of how people write in real life situations. It is a mix of the Mission and Kalau Kawau Ya orthographies with the addition of diacritics (the letters in brackets) to aid correct pronunciation, since many of the people who will use this dictionary will not be speakers of the language:

a (á), b, d, dh, e (é), g, i (í), k, l, m, n, ng, o (?, ò, ò'), ? (?'), r, s, t, th, u (ú, ù), w, y, z

Within this orthography, w and y are treated as consonants - this is their phonogical status in the language - while u and i are used as the glides where phonological considerations show that the 'diphthong' combination has vocalic status.

Pronunciation of the letters

The English pronunciations given in the list below are those of Australian English, and are only meant as a guide. The letters in square brackets ([]) represent the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

a (short) [a] : ?u? as in hut - gath shallow, shallows, mathaman hit, kill

a, á (long) (aa in the Bani orth.) [a:] ?a? as in father - áth bottom turtle shell (plastron), ma spider, lág place

b [b] as in English - Báb Dad, b?bu current, stream, bibir power, authority

d [d] as in English - da chest, idi grease, fat, dead-calm sea

dh [d?] similar to d, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth- dha ladder, stairs, adhal outside, Bádhu Badu

e (short) [e] ?e? as in bed - bero rib, nge then, tete animal/bird leg

e, é (long) (ee in the Bani orth.) [e:] ?are? as in bared - gér sea snake, dhe slime, sei there

g [g] as in English get, never as in general - gigi thunder, gág mangrove swamp

i (short) [i] short ?ee? as in feet - midh how, sisi gecko, ipi wife

i, í (long) (ii in the Bani orth.) [i:] ?ee? as in feed - síb liver, gi knife, ígil life

k [k] as in English - kikiman hurry up, kakayam bird-of-paradise

l [l] similar to English ?l? in lean, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth; never as in English kneel - lág place, home, li basket, gúl double-outrigger sailing canoe

m [m] as in English - mám love, affection, Ama Mum, Aunty, ma spider

n [n] similar to English ?n? in nun, but with the tip of the tongue against the top teeth - na song, nan her, nanu her(s)

ng [?] as in English sing; never as in English finger - ngai I, me, ng?rang armpit

o (short) [o] more or less ?o? as is in got, though more rounded - sob slowness, mogo blank skink

o (long) (oo in the Bani orth.) [o:] more or less ?o? as in god, though more rounded - gor tie-hole, so show

ò (short) [?] short version of ?oa? in broad - mòdhabil costs, prices, gòyal bald

ò (long) (oo in the Bani orth.) [?:] ?oa? in broad - mòs lung, spittle, gòy baldness

? (short) [?] ?a? as in about - b?t?m lean (animals), b?ga mallard

? (long) (ooe in the Bani orth.) [?:] more or less like ?er? in herd - w?r water, W?y Venus, b?i coming

p [p] as in English - papi noose, trap, áp garden, Pòpu Grandad

r [r] similar to ?tt? in better when said fast (that is to say, when better is pronounced ?bedder?). Before another consonant and at the end of a word, it is often trilled (like in ?stage? Scottish English or 'rr' in Spanish). In singing, however, it is normally pronounced much like the American English ?r? - ári rain, louse, rùg rag, piece of cloth, ár dawn

s [s] most commonly like English ?s? in sister; sometimes like English ?ch? in chew when at the beginning of a word or in the middle of a word; never like ?s? in ?as? (which is a ?z? sound) - sas style, showing off, sisi gecko, sagul game, fun, dance

t [t] as in English - tádu sand-crab, tídan return, understand, ít rock oyster

th [t?] similar to t, but with the tip of the tongue put against the top teeth - tha crocodile tail, thathi father, geth hand

u (short) [u] short ?u? as in lute - buthu sand, gulai sailing canoes

u, ú (long) (uu in the Bani orth.) [u:] ?oo? in woo - búzar fat, blubber, thu smoke

ù [?] ?u? as in put - mùdh shelter, kùt late afternoon, early evening, kùlai first, before

w [w] Not as strong as English ?w? in we ; for most speakers of the language the only difference between w and short u is that w is shorter - wa yes, kawa island, báw wave

y [j] Not as strong as English ?y? in yes; for most speakers of the language the only difference between y and short i is that y is much shorter - ya speech, talk, language, aya come!, máy well, spring; tears; pearl-shell, nacre

z [z] most commonly like English ?z? in zoo, or English ?s? in has; sometimes like English ?j? in jump, or ?dg? in budge when at the beginning or in the middle of a word - zázi grass skirt, za thing, object, zizi crackle, crack, rustling noise

Combinations of vowels (?diphthongs?, such as ai, au, ?i, eu etc.) are pronounced as written. Thus, for example, ai is a-i (basically very similar to ?i? in ?mine? with a posh accent). In singing and sometimes in slow speech, such vowel combinations can be said separately. The diphthongs are:

ei - sei there

iu - biuni kookoobuura, kingfisher

?i - b?i coconut frond

eu - seu belonging to there

ai - Saibai Saibai

?u - k?ubu battle, war

òi - òi hoy!, hey! (reply to a call, vocative particle)

au - kaub tiredness

ui - mui fire

ou - berou of a/the rib

In the Bani and Saibai (etc.) orthographies, these are written as follows:

ey - sey

iw - biwni

?y - b?y

ew - sew

ay - Saybay

?w - k?wbu

oy - oy

aw - kawb

uy - muy

ow - berow

References

External links

sv:Kala Lagaw Ya