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Yolŋu Matha, meaning the 'Yolŋu tongue', is a linguistic family that includes the languages of the Yolngu (also known as the Yolŋu and Yuulngu languages), the indigenous people of northeast Arnhem Land in northern Australia. The ŋ in Yolŋu is pronounced as the ng in singing.

Yolŋu Matha
Yuulngu
Ethnicity	Yolngu
Geographic distribution	In northeastern Arnhem Land, including Elcho Island, Crocodile Islands, Wessel Islands, English Company’s Islands, Northern Territory, Australia
Linguistic classification	Pama–Nyungan Yolŋu Matha
Subdivisions	Signed form: Yolŋu Sign Language
Glottolog	yuul1239
Yolŋu languages (green) among other Pama–Nyungan (tan)

Varieties

Yolŋu Matha consists of about six languages, some mutually intelligible, divided into about thirty clan varieties and perhaps twelve different dialects, each with its own Yolŋu name. Put together, there are about 4600 speakers of Yolŋu Matha languages. Exogamy has often meant that mothers and fathers speak different languages, so that children traditionally grew up at least bilingual, and in many cases polylingual, meaning that communication was facilitated by mastery of multiple languages and dialects of Yolŋu Matha. The linguistic situation is very complicated, given that each of the 30 or so clans also has a named language variety. Dixon (2002) distinguishes the following:[1]

Dhangu-Djangu language	Nhangu language	Dhuwal language	Ritharngu language	Djinang language	Djinba language
Wan.gurri	Gamalaŋga	Gupapuyngu	Ritharngu	Yirritjing	Ganhalpuyngu (Ganalbiŋu)
Lamamirri	Gorryindi	Gumatj	Wagilak	Wurlaki	Manjdjalpuyngu (Mandjalpiŋu)
Rirratjingu	Mäḻarra	Djambarrpuyngu		Djardiwitjibi
Gaalpu	Bindarra	Djapu		Mildjingi
Ngayimil	Ngurruwulu	Liyagalawumirr		Balmbi
Warramiri	Walamangu	Guyamirlili		Djuwing
Mandatja		Dhalwangu		Marrangu
		Djarrwark		Murrungun
				Manyarring

Bowern (2011) adds the varieties in parentheses as distinct languages.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant inventory is basically the same across Yolŋu varieties, although some varieties show minor differences.[2]

	Peripheral		Apical			Laminal	Glottal
	Bilabial	Velar	Alveolar	Dental	Retroflex	Palatal	Glottal
Lenis	b ⟨b⟩	ɡ ⟨g⟩	d ⟨d⟩	d̪ ⟨dh⟩	ɖ ⟨d̠⟩	ɟ ⟨dj⟩	ʔ ⟨'⟩
Fortis	p ⟨p⟩	k ⟨k⟩	t ⟨t⟩	t̪ ⟨th⟩	ʈ ⟨t̠⟩	c ⟨tj⟩
Nasals	m ⟨m⟩	ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩	n ⟨n⟩	n̪ ⟨nh⟩	ɳ ⟨n̠⟩	ɲ ⟨ny⟩
Rhotics			r ⟨rr⟩		ɻ ⟨r⟩
Laterals			l ⟨l⟩		ɭ ⟨l̠⟩
Approximants	w ⟨w⟩					j ⟨y⟩

Yolŋu languages have a fortis–lenis contrast in plosive consonants. Lenis/short plosives have weak contact and intermittent voicing, while fortis/long plosives have full closure, a more powerful release burst, and no voicing.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ⟨i⟩, iː ⟨e⟩		u ⟨u⟩, uː ⟨o⟩
Open		a ⟨a⟩, aː ⟨ä⟩

A three-way vowel distinction is shared between Yolŋu varieties, though not all Yolŋu varieties have a contrast in length. In the varieties that do have a length contrast, long vowels occur only in the initial syllable of words.[3]

In popular culture

The films Ten Canoes (2006) and Charlie's Country (2013), both directed by Rolf de Heer and featuring actor David Gulpilil, feature dialogue in Yolŋu Matha. Ten Canoes was the first feature film to be shot entirely in Australian indigenous languages, with the dialogue largely in the Ganalbiŋu variety of Yolŋu Matha.

Dr. G. Yunupingu was a popular Australian singer who sang in the Gumatj dialect of Yolŋu Matha, as did the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi.

Baker Boy, from the community of Milingimbi in North Eastern Arnhem Land released the song "Cloud 9" in 2017, in which he raps in Yolŋu Matha.[4] As Young Australian of the Year in 2019, the International Year of Indigenous Languages, and with two of his songs in the 2019 Triple J Hottest 100,[5] he raised the profile of Yolŋu Matha in mainstream media as well as giving people at home pride in their language.[6][7][8]

Dictionaries and resources

Dictionaries have been produced by Beulah Lowe, David Zorc and Michael Christie. A free, web-based searchable dictionary created by John Greatorex was launched in February 2015 by Charles Darwin University.

There are also several grammars of Yolŋu languages by Jeffrey Heath, Frances Morphy, Melanie Wilkinson and others.[9]

A graduate certificate in Yolŋu studies is offered at Charles Darwin University, teaching Yolŋu kinship, law and the Gupapuyŋu language variety.

ABC Indigenous News Radio broadcasts a news program in Yolngu Matha and also in Warlpiri on weekdays. The Aboriginal Resource and Development Services (ARDS) broadcast live radio in northeast Arnhem Land, Darwin and Palmerston and provide recordings of past programs on the internet.[10]

Words and expressions

• Gakal 'skill, talent, ability'
• Gapumirr 'with water' (bucket with water), 'watery'.[11]
• Manymak 'good, OK'
• Yol (pronounced 'yo') 'yes'
• Yaka 'no'
• Yothu 'child'
• Akka ‘sister’
• Yindi 'big'
• Yothu Yindi denotes the link between two different entities which is characterised as a mother-child relationship.[12]

Austronesian loanwords

Like other languages of the Top End, Yolŋu-Matha contains many loanwords from Austronesian languages due to abundant contact with seafaring peoples from the Indonesian archipelago.[13][14][15][16] Walker and Zorc[13] have identified 179 Yolŋu-Matha words that are clearly of Austronesian origin, and have identified a further 70 possible Austronesian loanwords requiring further study.

Examples of Austronesian loanwords in Yolngu-Matha [13]

Yolngu word	Austronesian source language	Austronesian word	Meaning in English
balaʔ	Makassarese	bállaʔ	house
balala	Makassarese	balála	greedy
balaŋu	Makassarese	balaŋo	anchor
baluka	Makassarese	palúkka	thief
baːwʔ	Makassarese or Buginese	báuʔ	fragrance
gaːruŋ	Malaysian	karoŋ	sack
barawu	Malaysian	perahu	boat

Vocabulary

Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:[17]

Notes

References

• Yolngu.net: grammar, vocabulary, history
• Aboriginal Resource and Development Services (ARDS)
• Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Yolŋu Matha course
• ARDS Rhombuy Dhäwu: Legal English-Yolngu Matha Online Dictionary
• Trudgen, Richard, Why Warriors Lie Down & Die , ARDS, Darwin, 2000.
• Examples of Yolngu Matha being spoken
• Radio National story
• Watson, Helen and David Wade Chambers (with the Yolngu community at Yirrkala). Singing the Land, Signing the Land. Deakin University.
• Madayin Law in Yolngu and English

Further reading

• "About Yolngu". Nhulunbuy Corporation.
• Wilkinson, Melanie; Marika, Raymatta; Williams, Nancy M. (2009). "17. 'This place already has a name'". In Hercus, Luise; Koch, Harold (eds.). Aboriginal Placenames: Naming and Re-naming the Australian Landscape. Aboriginal History Monographs. ANU E Press. ISBN 978-1-921666-09-4.

На других языках

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- [en] Yolŋu languages

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[fr] Langues yolngu

Les langues yolngu, aussi appelées yolŋu matha (littéralement « langue yolngu »), sont un groupe de langues et de dialectes australiens indigènes mutuellement intelligibles, parlés par les Yolngu (Yolŋu), peuple indigène du nord-est de la terre d’Arnhem dans le Territoire du Nord de l’Australie.

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[it] Yolŋu Matha

Con Yolŋu Matha si definisce il gruppo linguistico degli Yolngu (Yolŋu), la tribù australiana aborigena del nord-est della terra di Arnhem nell'Australia settentrionale. (Yolŋu = popolo, Matha = lingua).

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