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Mpakwithi is an extinct Australian Aboriginal dialect of Queensland.

Mpakwithi
Anguthimri
Region	Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia
Extinct	(date missing)[1]
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Paman North Cape York Northern Anguthimri Mpakwithi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	awg
Glottolog	angu1242
AIATSIS[2]	Y186
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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, /β ð ɣ/, Mpakwithi has a fourth, /ʒ/. Its origin is uncertain. This is an extremely rare sound in Australian languages.

References

• 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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