Diyari or Dieri is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of South Australia spoken by the Diyari tribe.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
The voiced alveolar stop [d] may have trilled release [dʳ] depending on dialect. Peter Austin (1988) suggests that this is due to Yandruwanhdha influence.
The voiced retroflex stop /ɖ/ often becomes a tap [ɽ] between vowels.
The stop [d]~[dʳ] is complementary distribution with both the trill [r] and the flap [ɾ]. Austin (1981) analysed the trill [r] as being the intervocalic allophone of /d/~/dʳ/, with the flap /ɾ/ being a separate phoneme. R. M. W. Dixon (2002) suggests that [ɾ] could be considered the intervocalic allophone of /d/~/dʳ/, so then /r/ would be a separate phoneme. Having /d/ realized as [ɾ] would parallel the realization of /ɖ/ as [ɽ], and having /r/ rather than /ɾ/ as a phoneme matches most other Australian languages.
Grammar
Diyari has three different morphosyntactic alignments:
- Singular common nouns and male personal names follow an absolutive-ergative system.
- Plural first and second person pronouns follow a nominative-accusative system.
- Plural common nouns, female personal names and other pronouns follow a tripartite system.
References
- Austin, Peter K. (1981). A grammar of Diyari, South Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Austin, Peter K. (1988). "Trill-released stops and language change in Central Australian languages". Australian Journal of Linguistics 8: 218–245.
- Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Trefry, David (1970). "The phonological word in Dieri", in Laycock, D. C.: Linguistic trends in Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies, 65–73.
External links
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