Alawa (Galawa) is a moribund Indigenous Australian language spoken by the Alawa people of the Northern Territory. In 1991, there were reportedly 18 remaining speakers and 4 semi-speakers.
Phonology
Consonants
Alawa has a typical consonant inventory for an Indigenous Australian language, with five contrastive places of articulation, multiple lateral consonants, and no voicing contrast among the stops.
Note: there are no standardised IPA symbols for alveopalatal stops.
Vowels
The vowel system of Alawa is made up of four vowel phonemes: the high front vowel /i/, the high back vowel /u/, the mid front vowel /e/, and the low central vowel /a/.
There are no rounding contrasts or length contrasts in this language.
Vocabulary
Capell (1942) lists the following basic vocabulary items:
See also
- Glenn M. Wightman (1991), Alawa ethnobotany: Aboriginal plant use from Minyerri, northern Australia, vol. 11, Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Wikidata Q109466390
References
External links
- Bibliography of Alawa language and people resources, at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
