Mudburra language

The Mudbura language is classified under the family Pama- Nyungan and the subgroup Ngumpin- Yapa. Mudbura is subdivided as Eastern Mudbura dialect (also called Kuwaarrangu) and Western Mudbura dialect (also called Kuwirrinji) by native speakers. This separation occurred due to the communication with speakers of other languages or dialects that happened over time. Proximately associated languages are Gurindji, Bilinarra, and Ngarinyman. ==History==

During the pre- European era, the Mudbura people practised seasonal migration. In the mid-1800s the Europeans arrived in the Barkly area and Victoria River and the first expedition of Victoria River occurred in 1855 by Augustus Charles Gregor's party. In 1861 John McDouall Stuart and his party explored for the first time the Barkly Tablelands in search for a path from south to north. Stuart named the water source “Newcastle Water” after his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, Secretary for the Colonies. After examining it, it was apparent to him that this tributary was frequently occupied by the Mudbura people and neighbouring communities as a water and food source. Kriol started spreading to Mudbura community through the years and has since remained as language in their community. ==Present==

Nowadays, most Mudbura people reside in Elliott, a small area that is located between Darwin and Alice Springs, or in Marlinja. According to the 2016 census, 339 people live in Elliott. The Mudbura language is currently at risk of obliteration as nowadays speakers of Mudbura communities either speak Aboriginal English or Kriol with the exception of a few elders that can still communicate it. ==Connection to similar dialects==

Prior to the appearance of Europeans, Mudbura speakers were able to speak multiple Aboriginal languages that neighboured their land. Speakers of the Western Mudbura dialect have been close to the Gurindji community and are characterized with a few shared features, that are different to Eastern Mudbura. Pensalfini reported that: “The resulting mixing of Mudburra and Jingili people produced a cultural group who are referred to (by themselves in many cases, and by older Jingili) as ‘Kuwarrangu’, distinct from either Jingili or Mudburra”. ==Phonology==

Consonants Vowels Alphabet The alphabet of Mudbura language is written identically to the English language but it is spoken differently. • is pronounced like the vowel in “bit”. • is pronounced like the vowel in “put”, in English. Vowel combinations that produce different sounds are: . The consonants that are pronounced sometimes differently than in English are: b, d, k, j and the rest sound similarly to the English consonants. Consonant combinations include: . The sound is unique in the way that it resembles the sound of rolling the r combined with d. ==Grammar==

Verbs In Mudbura language there are verbs and coverbs. Verbs have “inflection” endings depending on the role of a verb in a sentence. The four inflections are: Imperative verbs, past tense verbs, present tense verbs and potential verbs. There are 5 different conjugations that these inflecting verbs fall under, and each comes with different groups of endings. Coverbs In Mudbura, coverbs accompany inflecting verbs to indicate that the action is continuous. Some of these have specific inflecting verbs with which they are exclusively combined. Coverbs may be combined with different endings that change their meaning or their role in a sentence. Demonstratives In Mudbura language definite and indefinite articles are not necessary before nouns, only demonstratives such as and . The four demonstratives of Mudbura are used in any order in a sentence and they are: • (or ) "this" • "that one close up" • "that one close up" • "like this" Demonstratives can have different endings that are similar to the Mudbura grammatical case endings. Demonstratives can also take endings that indicate quantity like for "many" and for "two". Pronouns Mudbura pronouns are divided to three groups, the bound pronouns, the free pronouns and the indefinite pronouns. Bound pronouns can be found free in a sentence or accompanying a noun or a free pronoun and usually they are combined at the end of the word “ba”. They vary depending on the quantity of people and whether these are the subject or the object of the sentence, however there are no third person bound pronouns. There are singular, dual and plural forms of bound pronouns. Free pronouns are used to highlight a person and they also have possessive types that indicate ownership. When referring to many people the quantity endings that are stated in the Demonstratives section are added. Indefinite pronouns are used to refer to unidentified objects or people. They are: : , something : , someone : , someone did it : , sometime : , some amount : , somewhere Quantity endings Quantity and numbers are indicated with endings that are added to words. Such are for "two", or for "many". Sentences The structure of sentences in Mudbura language does not follow specific rules, the subject can go in any order throughout a sentence and noun phrases may come apart if needed under the condition that all words of the phrase follow the same grammatical case. Sentences can be intransitive meaning they do not include an object, transitive in which they include an object and a subject, semi-transitive in which they include a subject and an indirect object, and ditransitive in which they include a subject, an object and an indirect object. Showing possession in a sentence can be expressed with bound or free pronouns in the case the speaker is referring to a part of their body, or with possessive pronouns in the case the speaker is referring to something they own. Negative sentences are formed with the word combined with the verb in the associated tense. This indicates that something "is not", "was not" or "will not" and in terms of structure is found at the beginning of the sentence or right after the first word. Other words and endings such as (don't), (no or nothing) and (without) can be used to express negativity. Linking words or additional endings may be used in more complex sentences when these include more than 1 clause. Examples are: • and that mean "when, if, which, who" • that means "when, that, while, which, then" • that means "so that, that, which, while" The word "and" does not exist in the Mudbura language as words are either expressed consecutively without any linking words or some of the linking words stated above may be used. ==Vocabulary==

Source: Common question words • , what? • , why? • , who? • , whose? • , which? • , where? • , how much? or how many? • , when? • , how? Indicating direction • , up, above, on top of • , down, under, on the bottom, underneath, in • , north • , south • , west • , east Numbers • , one • , two • , three • , more, many, a whole lot Note: Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are the only ones that have words in the Mudbura language. ==Sign language==

The Mudbura has (or had) a well-developed signed form of their language. “Marnamarnda” is the name of the Mudbura sign language, which can be incorporated with speech or used by itself. Mudburra people use it when hunting or to accommodate long-distance communication. == References ==